Non Basmati Rice Export Ban by India | Business News | Jagran Business

The Director General of Foreign Trade, or DGFT, has issued a notification prohibiting the export of non-basmati rice to meet domestic demand. Weather-related factors such as strong monsoon rains in rice-producing states in the north and deficiency rainfall in other regions of the country have hampered rice output.

What was the reason?

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution explained the move, saying, "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, the Government of India has amended the Export Policy of the above variety from 'Free with export duty of 20%' to 'Prohibited' with immediate effect."

The action by the Centre to prohibit the export of non-basmati white rice comes just a month after it barred state governments, including Karnataka, from purchasing rice from the FCI through its Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). Karnataka had requested 2.2 lakh metric tonnes of rice for their scheme to give 5 kg rice per month to each recipient under the National Food Security Act of 2013.