Centre imposes 20% duty on parboiled rice exports

New Delhi, August 26

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Days after the government had said there was no move to curtail export of non-basmati parboiled rice, the Centre late on Friday evening imposed 20 per cent export duty on parboiled rice with immediate effect. The decision was taken to curb the rising prices of rice, and it comes at a time when food inflation for July had skyrocketed to 11 per cent, pushing the retail inflation for the month to 7.44 per cent.

The decision to impose a 20 per cent export duty on parboiled rice will make purchasing the commodity expensive for foreign buyers. This will limit exports and boost domestic availability. The curb on the export of the parboiled variety will also contribute to a further spike in global prices.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said curbing inflation was a priority area for the government at present. India had halted the export of white rice on July 20, sending global prices to a 12-year high as measured by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) rice price index.

However, the government has made an exception for exporting rice to neighbours. India will supply 79,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice to Bhutan and 14,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice to Mauritius.