West Bengal floats 180,000 T wheat tender

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - West Bengal has issued a tender to buy 180,000 tonnes of wheat from local or foreign suppliers to boost stocks, a government source said on Tuesday.

The government is keen to boost grain supplies as rising food prices have helped push Indian inflation to 7.4 percent, the highest in over three years.

"We hope to get the entire quantity in the next 2-3 months," the official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters by telephone from Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.

India imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat in 2006 and 1.8 million tonnes last year.

Last week, an official at Adani Enterprises Ltd, India's biggest private exporter of farm goods, said the country may import one million tonnes of wheat this year.

The central government has sought 180,000 tonnes of wheat under a call option from farm conglomerate Cargill Inc at $406 a tonne cost and freight.

Government forecasts peg output in India at 74.81 million tonnes this year.

Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar this month said wheat output in 2008 will exceed the government forecast and cross 75 million tonnes despite unseasonal rains.

India consumes around 73 million tonnes of wheat annually and builds buffer stocks to supply to the poor at lower rates and to keep prices under check.