India is not increasing the 20 percent duty on rice exports, onion exports will also be stopped

The 20 percent duty imposed by the Central Government of India on exports of parboiled rice will continue till further orders.

In August last year, India's central government imposed a 20 percent duty on rice exports to control supply and prices in the country's market. At that time, it was informed that this duty will remain in force until March 31 of this year. However, it was informed yesterday that this responsibility will continue until further instructions.

India's Finance Ministry said yesterday that the 20 percent export duty on rice exports would remain in place indefinitely, according to a report in the Economic Times.
Like the rest of the world, people in India have been living under high inflation for two years. While India's retail inflation rate eased to 5.1 percent in January last year, food inflation stood at 8.3 percent.

According to political analysts, ahead of this year's Lok Sabha elections, India's ruling Narendra Modi government is in an advantageous position in several areas, but it has discomfort in one area. That is the price of the product in the market. For that, the government has imposed duty on the export of white rice without basmati, apart from onions. Once tomatoes were sold from the government market. Grain stock is also being increased in government warehouses for open market sale.

While duty has been imposed on rice exports, the Modi government has imposed a ban on onion exports till March 31 this year. They reiterated last Tuesday that there is no question of bringing that time forward, rather the ban could be extended further.

According to various media reports in India, news recently spread in the Indian market that the ban on onion exports is being lifted. As a result, onion prices rose by more than 40 percent in just two days at the wholesale market in Maharashtra's Lasalgaon, India's largest onion market. On February 17, onion price was Rs 1,280 per quintal; On February 19, it rose to Rs 1,800.

Wholesale traders claim that wholesale and retail price of onion may increase in future if onion export starts from Nashik. The central government of India has taken measures to prevent such rumors from spreading in the market. Union Consumer Protection Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told Indian media that the onion export ban has not been lifted and there has been no change in the regime.

Despite the overall ban on onion exports, the central government of India has announced that it will export limited quantities of onions to six countries including Bangladesh. According to Indian media reports, onion will be exported at the government level (JTUG) to these countries. According to the news, the country's authorities have taken this decision on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the Indian media could not say anything about how many onions will be exported, or when they will be exported.

India will export onions to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bahrain, Bhutan and Nepal.