Govt may lift 2 week old non-basmati export ban

Last Saturday Pawar ruled out lifting the ban, saying that the review would be done ‘sometime next year’ as the mandate was to build adequate PDS stocks. The commerce ministry, which kept quiet at that time, is now asking for a reversal of the October 9 Cabinet ban on export of non-basmati rice, saying it might affect India’s exports to the Gulf, thereby tilting business in Pakistan’s favour.

Rice exporters, too, have represented to Pawar asking for exports to be regulated rather than banned, with an MEP of $550 per tonne as the rice variety bought by the Government averaged $300 per tonne.