India in a position to meet Bangla’s food needs
From Our Special Correspondent, NEW DELHI, JAN. 5.—The Government of India, it appreached, may quite comfortably help the Bangladesh Government meet the food shortage in that country.
However, the Bangladesh Government has not yet made any such request to the Government of India. Its Foreign Minister Mr. Abdus Samad. who arrived here this evening on a four-day visit, may given an indication of the kind of help his Government would require.
Mr. Samad is scheduled to call on the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, on Friday afternoon when he may give out the figures.
India is now having a very comfortable food position because of two successive record grain harvests and the prospects of another good crop during 1971-72.
The position has been so good that the Government has told the U.S. Government that it does not require the balance 100.000 tonnes of wheat of the 1.7 million tonnes the U. S. was to supply under the PL-480 agreement signed in April last year.
In fact. India is now thinking of exporting wheat and wheat products to West Asian countries. And if India actually starts exporting. It will be for the first time since independence that India enters the world grains market as an exporter.
The position in regard to rice production is not as bright. Even then procurement of rice up to November was of the order of 7,20.000 tonnes, or nearly double the previous year figure. There has been spectacular increase in rice procurement in Punjab and Haryana.
India may continue to have some limited import for some time to build up the buffer stock for rice and to meet contingencies. Imported rice is not likely to be released to the market to meet domestic requirements. As was announced earlier, the Government has already stopped all concessional imports of foodgrains from the end of the last year.
The stocks of foodgrains stood at 7.5 million tonnes at the end of October last year against 4.5 million tonnes at the end of October, 1970.
The PL-480 agreements with India provided for a total supply of 52.2 million tonnes of wheat, 5.5 million tonnes of sorghum and maize, 0.8 million tonnes of rice, four million bales of cotton, 0.5 million tonnes of vegetable oil. 0.17 million tonnes of tallow, besides tobacco, non-fat dry milk, whole milk powder, tinned fruit and cheese. Most of these commodities have since been received by India. Their total value including occan transportation costs, amount to 81.787 million.
India pays for PL-480 in rupees. For $ 4354.8 million, the bulk of the PL-480 proceeds, the agreement specified that 80.6 per cent should be returned by the USA to the government of India in grants and loans for economic development. Of this 19.3 per cent as loans.
Jal. A sum equivalent to 6.1 per cent of the total was reserved for US Government uses. But a substantial part of this amount was utilised to promote a number of activities beneficial to India.
The remaining $ 432.2 million is repayable in rupees convertible into dollars at the option of the US Government. This portion of the agreements is covered by a 10-year loan.
Under the terms of PL-480 agreements, the Government of India deposits in the US Government’s account with the Reserve Bank of India rupees equivalent to the dollars paid to US suppliers of agricultural communities, at the prevalent exchange rate. Major portion of the rupee deposits have been made before devaluation of the rupee in June, 1966 and the rupee deposit amount to approxinmatev Rs. 2.660 crores.
Reference: Hindustan Standard 6. 01. 1972