Government bans export of non-basmati white rice, increasing prices will be controlled

The government on Thursday banned the export of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supplies and keep retail prices in check during the upcoming festive season. The food ministry said in a statement that there would be no change in the export policy for parboiled non-basmati rice and basmati rice, which constitute a major chunk of exports. Non-basmati white rice accounts for about 25 percent of the total rice exported from the country. What is the whole news, let's know.
The ministry said that the export policy of non-basmati white rice has been amended to ensure adequate domestic availability at reasonable prices. The main objective of this move of the government is to ensure low prices and adequate availability in the upcoming festive season. In order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the domestic market and reduce the rise in local prices, the government has amended the export policy from 'free with the export duty of 20%' to 'prohibited' with immediate effect.
The total export of non-basmati white rice from India is expected to be USD 4.2 million in 2022-23 as against USD 2.62 million in the previous year. The major countries of export non-basmati white rice from India include Thailand, Italy, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the United States of America. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in a notification said that the export policy of non-basmati white rice (half-milled or fully milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed) has been changed from free to restricted Is.
It is said that the domestic prices of rice are rising. Its retail prices have increased by 11.5 percent in a year and 3 percent in the last month. An export duty of 20 percent was imposed on non-basmati white rice on September 8, 2022, to reduce prices as well as ensure availability in the domestic market.
However, the export of this variety increased to 42.12 lakh tonnes in the September-March period of 2022-23 from 33.66 lakh tonnes during the September-March period of the previous financial year. Around 15.54 lakh tonnes of white rice was exported in the first quarter of the current financial year, as against only 11.55 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. Accordingly, there has been an increase of 35 percent in exports.