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Govt amends policy on Non-Basmati White Rice; puts it in prohibited list
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Friday, 28 July, 2023, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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The Union Government has amended the export policy of Non-Basmati White Rice and put it in ‘prohibited’ list fearing a price rise in the festive season (Navratri, Dussehra and Dipawali), which is just few months away.
The Government is already reeling under the super price rise of tomatoes and the move is to ensure lower price and maintaining availability of rice in the upcoming festival season.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, reads, “In order to ensure adequate availability of Non-Basmati White Rice in the Indian market and to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market, Government of India has amended the Export Policy of above variety from ‘Free with export duty of 20%’ to ‘Prohibited’ with immediate effect.”
The domestic prices of rice were on an increasing trend. The retail prices increased by 11.5% over a year and 3% over the past month.
According to the data available with the Government, export duty of 20% on non-Basmati White Rice was imposed on Sept 08, 2022, to lower the price as well as ensure availability in the domestic market. However, the export of this variety increased from 33.66 LMT (Sept-March 2021-22) to 42.12 LMT (Sept-March 2022-23) even after imposition of 20% export duty.
In the current FY 2023-24 (April-June), about 15.54 LMT of this variety of rice was exported against only 11.55 LMT during FY 2022-23 (April-June), i.e. an increase by 35%. This sharp increase in exports can be ascribed to high international prices due to geo-political scenario, El Nino sentiments and extreme climatic conditions in other rice producing countries.
The Non-Basmati White Rice constitutes about 25% of total rice exported from the country and Government expects that the prohibition on export of Non-Basmati White Rice will lead to lowering of prices for the consumers in the country.
However, there is no change in export policy of Non-Basmati Rice (Par Boiled Rice) and Basmati Rice, which forms the bulk of rice exports.
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