The Pakistan Army and the Gilgit-Baltistan government has raised questions about the quality of the imported wheat.
According to sources, the army and the provincial government have called into question imported wheat’s quality, taste and shape and sought 100 percent locally produced wheat for consumption. Sources say the Economic Coordination Committee has already been informed about these concerns about the quality and taste of the imported wheat.
Sources say that Passco is planning to supply a mix of local and imported wheat to the Pakistan Army and Gilgit-Baltistan in food year 2024-25. According to an estimate, 175,000 ton wheat will b3e supplied to the Pakistan Army in the food year 2024-25 – 87,500 tons of this wheat will be local and 87,500 tons imported.
On the other hand, Gilgit-Baltistan will be supplied 160,000 tons of wheat for the food year 2024-25 and 98,750 tons of this wheat will be local and 61,250 ton will be imported. Azad Kashmir will be supplied 300,000 tons of wheat in the food year 2024-25, half of this will be local and half imported.
Pakistan imported $1.1B in wheat in 2022, becoming the 20th largest importer of Wheat in the world. In the same year, wheat was the 10th most imported product in Pakistan. Pakistan imports wheat primarily from: Russia ($278M), Romania ($251M), France ($197M), Bulgaria ($147M), and Ukraine ($133M).