As the Indians seek permission to export over a million tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s land route, the flour milling industry here is up in arms, threatening protests and warning of the adverse impact that it would have on its business.
It is exerting active pressure on federal ministries to pre-empt the move. The industry thinks that subsidised Indian wheat would drive it out of the Afghan market, which the industry considers its own backyard.
Indian wheat would cost PKR2,900 per tonne in Afghanistan, against Pakistani commodity at Rs3,400 per tonne. This difference of Rs500 per tonne is bound to tilt the competitive edge in favour of the Indian wheat and Pakistan would lose its traditional market that consumes over half a million tonne of flour from Pakistan.
Cheaper Indian exports would hit the entire Pakistani milling industry business cycle; previous payments — flour to the Afghan market is supplied on credit & would get stuck as new orders dry up, claimed industry sources.
