"Wheat exports to Indonesia have begun with a contract for 60,000 tonne with a private party, to be shipped at around $102 per tonne, but a long-term larger contract with another party is yet to materialise," official sources said.

A number of private parties had evinced interest in Indian wheat and a trial shipment of 800 tonne had been sent to one of them last week, the sources said.

Sources said another party was keen on shipments of about 1 or 2 lakh tonne per month, but was asking for a credit arrangement for three months.Depending on the quantity involved, the amount could workout to be $30-60 million and the decision on the issue was yet to be taken by the government, they said.

The trading house concerned was ready to give credit as the interest payment on the amount could be added to the final bill later, they added. Sources said the initial plan was to export wheat on government to government basis, but the modalities could not be worked out and it was decided to negotiate with private parties for large contracts.

Meanwhile, India has increased its ex-granary price of wheat to Rs 4,300 per tonne from Rs 4,150 per tonne, and expects an increase of around $3 in the price to be competitive enough in the international market.

However, other wheat exporters, like the US and Argentina are crying foul on India's entry into the world market. That the Indian government will procure wheat from the farmers at a minimum support price of Rs 6,100 per tonne and then provide it to traders at Rs 4,300 per tonne has been described by these countries as contravention of the WTO regime.