India is expected to import up to 4 million tonnes of wheat this fiscal year, despite a bumper harvest, due to the cheaper availability of the commodity in the international markets. COFCO Agri said, depending on how the monsoon progresses, India is likely to import about 3 to 4 million tonnes of wheat until April. About 3 lakh tonnes of imports have already been contracted with Ukrainian suppliers. The landed cost of imported wheat is about Rs 18/kg, while the domestic wheat price is Rs 20/kg. Mainly, mills from south India find it cheaper to import than buying and transporting wheat from Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in north India. The procurement of wheat as on July 7 for the rabi marketing season (RMS) 2017-18 is up by 34% to 308.01 lakh tonnes against the procurement of 229.62 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of RMS 2016-17. The ending stocks in the central pool had depleted from 15.5 million tonnes in 2015-16 to to 13 million tonnes in 2016-17.