Australia Grain-AWB plans to bid for India sale

SYDNEY, Apr 28 (Reuters) Australia's embattled wheat monopoly AWB Ltd. , under investigation over allegations it made illicit payments to Iraq, is eager to get on with business and is planning to bid for new wheat tenders by India.

''We look at all tenders that are released. If satisfied with the terms and conditions we'd obviously participate,'' AWB spokesman Peter McBride said of the Indian tenders.

AWB was accused by a U.N. report last October of providing 2 million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, breaking sanctions by washing inflated wheat contract prices through the hard-currency oil-for-food account.

The Iraqi Grain Board in February suspended business dealings with AWB while an official inquiry into the alleged kickbacks went on. The inquiry is due to report on June 30.

Despite the inquiry, Ian Donges, the new head of AWB's export arm, in March said that the group had sold almost 1.5 million tonnes of wheat in new deals, including 500,000 tonnes to India.

India would issue new wheat tenders soon, a food ministry official said in Mumbai on Wednesday. Further imports could amount to 3 million tonnes, Indian officials have said.

If Australia wins further Indian sales, grain would likely be drawn from a combination of the last crop and the new one, which is just about to be planted.

Dry weather persists in most of Australia's grains belt as it moves into the planting time for winter crops, normally sown in late April through May.

Some plantings of early crops, particularly canola, has begun in parts of winter growing areas, although a significant autumn rain break is yet to occur in Australia's key southeast.

Unseasonably good winter rain has allowed canola and lupin plantings to begin in parts of Western Australia.

Forecasts for this season's wheat crop range between 22.5 million tonnes and 24.5 million tonnes, although forecasters say good rain could push the harvest to 25 million tonnes. The wheat crop was 25.1 million tonnes last season.

REUTERS CS KP0936