Chapati prices to hit the roof in Singapore, no thanks to India wheat ban

By Asia Samachar | Singapore |

Indian eateries in Singapore are making their chapatis with bated breath as India slams export of wheat. Without a constant supply of flour from India, they may be forced to look elsewhere for their basic ingredient. The problem is that flour from other markets is so much more expensive.

This has led to at least one well known Indian eatery mulling to stop selling its popular chapati dish this week, while another is expected to raise prices, reports a local English newspaper.

Popular Indian eateries here tell The Straits Times that the ban since May has forced them to turn to wheat flour from other countries which now costs about three times more than that from India before. At the same time, the prices of flour from India have similarly increased.

India, the world’s second-biggest producer of wheat, stopped exporting the grain and its flour in May in an attempt to put a cap on skyrocketing domestic prices after a heatwave parched crops and affected wheat supply. The ban came amid Ukraine’s wheat exports being curtailed by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Ukraine used to be the fourth-biggest supplier of wheat to the world, accounting for about 9 per cent of the global wheat trade.

Sakunthala’s Restaurant, which has five outlets in Singapore, is well known for its Indian cuisine and, most notably, its chapati. Following India’s ban on wheat flour exports, the restaurant has been looking for alternatives from other countries, Sakunthala’s managing director, Mathavan Adi Balakrishnan, 52, told the newspaper.

The restaurant is currently still using flour from India that it has stocked up before the ban, but the stock is expected to run out by this week. Mathavan added that the restaurant is concerned that using other sources of wheat flour would affect the texture of its chapati. Getting flour from alternative sources, such as Dubai, would also mean paying triple the price for the ingredient, he said. The restaurant used to pay S$5 a kg for wheat flour from India, but the flour from Dubai now costs S$15 a kg.

Owner of Punjabi and Bengal eatery Mustard Singapore, Radhika Abbi, 51, said many Indian eateries here will have to struggle with higher costs once their existing flour stocks from India run out. She said she used to pay S$2 a kg for wheat flour, but is now looking at paying close to $8.

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