A government order on Saturday said it would maintain the MEP, initially in place until Sunday, until further notice
Basmati rice
India will maintain the floor price for basmati rice exports until further notice, a government order said on Saturday.
The world’s biggest exporter continues to curb overseas shipments of the grain as in August, India imposed a USD 1,200 per ton minimum export price (MEP) on basmati rice shipments.
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The move was aimed at calming the local prices ahead of key state elections.
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A government order on Saturday said it would maintain the MEP, initially in place until Sunday, until further notice.
On Friday itself, India extended the 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice. The finance ministry through a notification extended the duty till March 31, 2024.
In July, banned exports of non-basmati white rice. India banned export of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supply and keep retail prices under check during the upcoming festive season.
MEP aims to help authorities ensure that non-basmati rice is not exported as basmati rice. With this, it has now imposed restrictions on all varieties on non-basmati rice.
It is worth highlighting that in the April-June of FY24, about 15.54 lakh tonnes of non-basmati white rice was exported against only 11.55 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
The government took the step due to the rising prices of the foodgrains and higher exports.
On Thursday, NSO data said the CPI inflation for the month of September eased to 5.02% as against 6.83% in August.
Food inflation fell to 6.56% in September against 9.67% in August
Importantly, the inflation has come back to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s comfort level of below 6% after a gap of two months.
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