Dhaka, Oct. 2 -- India has raised the price at which it will buy new-season wheat from domestic farmers by 150 rupees or 6.6 per cent to encourage growers to expand acreage and remove the need for imports in the world's second-biggest producer of the grain.

The revised purchase price of 2,425 rupees ($28.88) per 100 kg for 2025 compares with 2,275 a year earlier, Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told a news conference after a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.

India sets a price each year at which it will buy wheat and rice from local farmers to distribute for free to 800 million beneficiaries of the world's biggest food welfare programme.

A reasonable increase in the state-set support or guaranteed ...