KATHMANDU, Jan 27: The Nepal Flour Mills Association has demanded that the government immediately procure 50,000 metric tons of wheat from the Indian government. Since flour mills will run and all sectors will benefit from the availability of wheat, the Association has also requested the government to immediately proceed with the process of importing wheat instead of importing flour. Due to India's ban on wheat import, traders complain that there is an extreme shortage of flour in the domestic market.
They allege that due to the ban, they are unable to provide wheat/refined flour as per the demand to all big and small hotels including biscuits, noodles, bakeries, oven-baked flatbreads, eateries, restaurants, which use wheat/refined flour as raw materials. Also, the businessmen claim that even those who have developed the habit of eating bread instead of rice as their daily food have been directly affected.
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Although the Association has informed the government about the Indian government's ban, the matter has not been addressed due to which the flour industry is buying wheat from the market at a high price, and the price of wheat/ refined flour is on the rise, which is affecting all sectors, including the consumers. According to them, 80 percent of the flour mills across the country have reached a state of closure because of the shortage and the rest of the mills are also on the verge of shut down.
