NEW DELHI, June 10 — The Centre today decided to auction five million tonnes of wheat in Punjab and Haryana, give commodity loan to SAARC countries and barter with needy nations.

The move is aimed at clearing the wheat stocks that was expected to touch 254.17 lakh tonnes as against the buffer stock requirement of 143 lakh tonnes.

The decision was announced by Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices.

Mr Shanta Kumar said details of auction Shanta would be worked out shortly and that the government expected to offload the targeted five million tonnes by October, before the start of Kharif procurement.

Since the stocks were mainly in Punjab and Haryana, the decision to conduct auction there was taken. “Anybody including state governments could participate in the auction” he said.

On the commodity loans, the Minister said that the Cabinet had decided to extend this facility to SAARC countries only in the case of wheat. Under the scheme, India could receive either its payment in other commodities or in cash.

To a question if Pakistan would be entitled for the commodity loan, Mr Shanta Kumar said as such all SAARC nations were free to avail of the facility that would be worked out in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Cabinet also decided to explore the possibility of entering into barter trade with any country which was willing to accept wheat in exchange for any other commodity that India required including petroleum products. The details for its implementation would be worked out soon, he added.

According to reports, Punjab had more than 100 lakh tonnes of wheat with the state, and was pressing for fast lifting of stocks and creating space for paddy.