New Delhi:(IANS) The goverment has imposed a 10 percent import duty on wheat effective up to March 31 next year, parliament was informed on Friday.

“The government has decided to impose  basic custom duty of 10 percent on wheat till March 31, 2016,” Finance  Minister Arun Jaitley announced in the Lok Sabha.

The estimated revenue implication of this measure “is revenue gain of about Rs.90 crore in  the remaining part of the year”, the finance ministry said in a statement here.

The move to curb imports follows deals signed in June by private companies to import around 500,000 tonnes of Australian wheat at a time of ample domestic stocks.