India imposes 20 percent duty on export of ‘parboiled rice,’ price hike of the essential feared in Nepali market

Published On: August 28, 2023 08:45 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Aug 28: India has imposed a 20 percent duty on export of ‘parboiled rice’ in order to maintain price stability in the country’s domestic market.

According to The Hindu, one of the leading Indian media outlets, the price of rice in India surged 10.63 percent in the past year. Indian authorities are reported to have been enforcing a number of measures to check the soaring prices of edibles.

The Indian media says the condition of crops in southern states is in bad shape due to deficient rainfall in many parts of the states. “Karnataka alone received 75 percent below normal rain this year.”

Since July 20, when India banned exports of non-basmati white rice, the country has been facing a surge in shipments of parboiled rice. According to a notice issued by the Ministry of Finance, India, the provision has been put into effect since Friday night and will be in force till October 15. Following the new measure, the export rate of Indian parboiled rice has been fixed at US $600 per ton.

The step of the Indian government is likely to make the essentials expensive, particularly in South Asia. In 2022, India exported 7.4 million tons of parboiled rice.

With a disruption in the global supply chain in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, the world market has been under the pressure of soaring edibles prices. The food prices hit a record high in the past one decade.

Following the incident, the Indian government last year restricted export of wheat. Similarly, the Indian authority also barred the export of broken rice last year. Recently, the southern neighbor slapped a 40 percent duty on its onion exports.

India is a major food supplier across the world. The country holds 40 percent share in the total rice trading globally.

Traders said India’s decision will certainly take the price of rice up in Nepal’s market. Nepal produces around four tons of paddies per hectare of land.

The agrarian country produces 5.5-6.0 million tons of paddies on 1.47 hectares of rice field on an average. The produce is sufficient to meet 80 percent of the domestic demand, while the country depends on imported rice for the rest.