Mumbai: The government has announced the expiry of duty-free import of wheat on February 28. It may allow private players, who have bought close to one-million tonnes, to import duty-free wheat again 'as and when there is a need', food secretary T Nanda Kumar said.

" No extension has been issued for private duty-free wheat imports as of now," Nanda Kumar said on the sidelines of an industry meeting.

The government allowed costly wheat imports of 5.5-million tonnes to shore up its buffer stocks as production and procurement fell last year.

Kumar said though official procurement of wheat through the Food Corporation of India is yet to begin, the government is confident of achieving the procurement target this year.

The estimated procurement of wheat in 2007-08 rabi marketing season is 151.5 lakh tonnes, according to minister of state for food Akhilesh Prasad Singh.

The minister said procurement centres were yet to start working as the marketing season begins from March 14. He said the minimum support price of the wheat has been raised to Rs750 per quintal this year from Rs650 per quintal.

The country, which consumes about 71 million tonnes of wheat annually, is likely to produce 72.5 million tonnes in 2007 against an output of 69.4 million tonnes in 2006. India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, allowed private trade to import at 5 per cent duty in June 2006 and later abolished the levy until Feb 28 to make up for an acute shortfall in availability.