The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs-CCEA has approved a proposal to extend timeline for sale of wheat under open market sale scheme by Food Corporation of India to bulk consumers till March-end.

The decision was taken at the CCEA meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.

Highly placed sources said, the decision will help ease the storage crunch, the FCI is facing..

The Cabinet approved the draft of Presidential address to joint session of Parliament beginning from 21st of this month.

In October last year, government had allowed FCI to sell 6.5 million tonnes of wheat to bulk users in the wake of surplus stocks. It had set February this year as deadline to complete the sale.

Also, the Cabinet has approved a Constitutional Amendment Bill on Wednesday to facilitate the implementation of the India-Bangladesh boundary agreement signed in 2011.

Official sources said that the Cabinet gave its nod to the draft of the Constitutional Bill to amend the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, 1974.

Additional protocols for 1974 Land Boundary Agreement, signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September 2011, require a constitutional amendment for ratification.

The protocols involve exchange of land in 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves on Indian soil. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the coming Budget session of Parliament for Parliamentary approval.