NEW DELHI: Indian government-run State Trading Corporation on Friday invited bids from private traders for exports of wheat, a day after the food minister said New Delhi was looking to trim its huge stockpile.

Government warehouses had around 19.9 million tonnes of wheat on April 1, nearly five times the official target of 4.0 million tonnes for the quarter ending June 30, government sources said last month.

The STC said in a newspaper advertisement that bidders for the export tender must submit their offers by May 24. The wheat will have to be shipped from the Food Corporation of India warehouses through the ports at Kandla and Mundra in the western state of Gujarat.

“We have floated tender just to test the water, to see what price we are getting,” a government source said.

Food Minister K.V. Thomas said on Thursday India is considering selling wheat to Africa, the Middle East and neighbours such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.