Amid heavy demand for wagons for transportation of goods in the freight sector, over 500 wheat-loaded wagons are stranded for nearly a month awaiting clearance from DGFT (Director General of Foreign Trade) to cross the Bangladesh border.
Though the government has put curbs on wheat export to meet the domestic demand, it has amended its wheat export ban order of 13 May to allow the export of the consignments that were registered in the Customs Department’s systems and handed over for examination on or prior to 13 May to be shipped out.
Currently, there are about 12 rakes of wheat meant for export to Bangladesh with a letter of credit issued before 13 May 2022 being stranded at different locations in India.
While a total of 31,200 tonnes of wheat loaded in 346 covered wagons are awaiting registration certificates (RC) to cross borders, retention of wagons for such a long period is affecting the wagon supply of the Indian Railways.
RC is mandatory for export. Without the RC from DGFT, goods cannot cross borders.
Besides wheat, the covered wagons are required for transporting foodgrains and fertiliser.
The railways has deployed maximum box wagons for carrying coal to powerhouses to facilitate maximum coal supply to tide over the crisis in the power sector. In fact, many passenger trains were cancelled to ensure an uninterrupted coal supply.
According to sources, DGFT is in the process of issuing the RC so that wheat rakes can reach Bangladesh. The issue is expected to be sorted out soon and the RC would be issued shortly, sources added.