India and the UK have softened positions on most of their points of contention as both nations try to wrap up trade talks ahead of expected national polls next year, according to people with the knowledge of the matter.

 

While New Delhi has agreed to slash tariffs on British cars and scotch whisky, the UK is willing to relax some visa rules for Indian professionals, Indian officials said, asking not be identified as the discussions are private. Nevertheless, with immigration a politically sensitive subject in the UK, a British official indicated any visa relaxations are likely to be limited.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak are pushing to double bilateral trade by 2030 through a pact that slashes tariffs and increases market access. The two governments hope to wind up the trade talks before year-end, Indian and British officials said.

 

Britain is willing to accept New Delhi’s standards on environment protections and labor — a key Indian demand given the differences in economic development and sensitivities involved for its micro-, small- and medium-sized firms, the officials added.

 

Striking a trade accord is critical for India’s ambition to become a manufacturing powerhouse, while the UK is seeking to clinch new deals to highlight the benefits of Brexit. Sunak and Modi will have an opportunity to discuss the matter face-to-face at a Group of 20 summit in New Delhi next month.

 

A spokesperson for the UK trade department said its made 'good progress' in closing chapters and both countries are now 'laser-focused' on goods, services and investment.

 

'While we cannot comment on ongoing negotiations, we are clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, balanced, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy,' they said.

 

The negotiations on visas are likely to be particularly sensitive. India has long demanded increased access for its citizens, but the UK’s vote for Brexit in 2016 was fueled in part by calls for greater control over the numbers of people coming into the country, and immigration remains a hot-button topic ahead of the next general election.

 

Underscoring the difficulties Sunak’s government faces, net migration to the UK reached a record 606,000 people last year, while separate visa data has shown one in three residence visas were granted to Indian workers. A UK official said talks are centering on time-limited business visas for highly skilled workers.

 

The deal, if it materializes, will be India’s biggest and most ambitious free trade agreement to date. This comes at a time when many western economies are pinning their hopes on the South Asian nation to become a bulwark against China’s growing economic and military clout.

 

Good Progress

Even as the two nations have been reluctant to set a date for completing the talks after missing a deadline last year, negotiations have been progressing well, the people said. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s decision to visit Britain last month put political momentum behind talks, one UK official said.

 

The Sunak administration is also considering signing an agreement that will help Indians claw back half a billion pounds in payments made by them toward Britain’s social security system, the Indian officials said.

 

India is looking to bring down the import duty on cars to 75% from the current 100%. However, this will exclude small capacity cars and there would be a cap on the number of vehicles sold under these lower tariffs, the people said.

 

Similarly, on scotch whisky, New Delhi may slash duties to 100% from the existing 150% charged above a minimum import price. The premium category may see a steeper tariff cut. Easier market access in both these sectors has been one of the main demands of the UK.

 

Most of the debate is now centered on determining the criteria for the import duty cuts on goods under the trade deal and India’s proposal for an investment protection treaty, the officials from New Delhi said.

 

The UK and India are yet to concur on the contours of the treaty promoting and protecting investments on a reciprocal basis, the officials said. New Delhi’s proposal to exhaust local judicial remedies before initiating international arbitration in case of disputes has still not found favor with the UK, they added.

The food authority has issued an order with respect to labs working in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode that if samples were tested in any of the primary notified lab, irrespective of their geographical location, the appeal samples cannot be sent to the National Food Laboratory operating under the PPP mode with such private labs.  

 

The FSSAI has issued an order in this regard mentioning three private labs including M/s Arbro Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. (M/s APPL), M/s Vimta Labs Limited and M/s National Commodity Management Services Limited (Formerly National Collateral Management Services Limited), which are working in a PPP mode with National Food Laboratory Ghaziabad, National Food Laboratory, JNPT, Mumbai, and National Food Laboratory, CPT, Chennai, respectively.  

The order reads that ‘It is to inform that, if a sample has been tested in any of the primary notified laboratories mentioned above, irrespective of their geographical location, the appeal/referral sample shall not be sent to the National Food Laboratory operating under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with the same primary notified laboratory where the primary sample was tested.’

 

Earlier, FSSAI has ordered that the Appellate/Referral Samples may be sent to any Referral Laboratory as per their valid scope of testing irrespective of their areas of jurisdiction. However, since some labs are working in PPP mode with private labs, the food authority felt the need for a clarification, remarked an industry expert.

Prices of all varieties of rice in the global market are ruling above $600 a tonne, barring Indian parboiled 5 per cent broken and Thailand 25 per cent broken white rice following India’s ban on white rice shipments from July 20.

 

The huge surge in prices, seen after almost a decade-and-a-half, has now led to fears among global traders that Thailand and Vietnam could resort to curbs on exports, while India could either ban or impose export on parboiled rice exports, traders have said. 

 

'(Rice) Export prices further increased 3-6 per cent due to the panic buying from foreign buyers (in view of India’s white rice export ban),' the US Department of Agriculture said in its weekly note on rice prices.  

 

Local reports in Bangkok, Thailand, said domestic prices in packets will rise by 3 baht (?7 approximately) a kg from September after paddy prices have increased to record highs.

 

20% jump in exports

Exporters and traders said demand for Indian parboiled rice has increased sharply after the ban on white rice export. This has resulted in fears, particularly among traders abroad — especially Singapore — that the Indian government might step in to curb the exports by either imposing a duty or ban it altogether. 

 

Data made available to businessline show that at least 6.5-7 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice have been exported between July 21 and August 17 — a jump of 20-25 per cent — with the Kakinada port accounting for over 30 per cent of the shipments. 

 

During the April-June period of the current fiscal, 2.02 million tonnes (mt) were exported, while in the 2022-23 fiscal, parboiled accounted for 7.85 mt of the 17.86 mt. 

 

'Indian parboiled rice is quoted far lower than parboiled from other origins. So, there is an arbitrage which global traders are trying to cash in on,' said S Chandrasekaran, a New Delhi-based analyst.

 

El Nino impact

According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, Thailand parboiled 100 per cent sortexed is ruling at $615, while Indian 5 per cent parboiled is quoted at $478-82 a tonne. Pakistan has no stocks. Thailand’s 25 per cent broken white rice is ruling at $582.

 

Fears of curbs on rice exports from leading producing countries are high since South-East Asia is currently going through a dry period. 

 

'Thailand is witnessing a dry period as also Malaysia and Indonesia. Things are not looking bright for rice,' said a trade source. The prolonged dry period is seen due to the El Nino impact, which leads to drought and lower rainfall in Asia.

 

'Things will soon be under control. Parboiled prices have dropped to $450 a tonne in India today (August 17) and arrivals have begun in Nellore,' said BV Krishna Rao, President, The Rice Exporters Association (TREA). 

 

DGFT meet with exporters

However, prices of rice in the domestic market are increasing. 'Consumers will have to pay more over the next couple of months,' said Rao. 

 

The USDA said Thai rice export prices have increased by around $120/tonne since the Indian government imposed an export ban of non-basmati (white) rice on July 20, 2023. 'Also, domestic rice prices were under upward pressure as local mills reportedly secured rice supplies to build up their inventories and to fulfill contracted shipments,' it said. 

 

Thai rice prices have increased despite the weakening of the Thai baht to 34.75 baht from 34.07 baht to the dollar last week.

 

Meanwhile, the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade had a meeting with rice exporters, who urged the Centre to permit exports of consignments that had entered the ports on July 19.

 

'The ban came into effect on July 20 but Customs Department stopped permitting exports the same day even if consignments had entered earlier. The Commerce Ministry wants these shipments to be allowed,' said a Delhi-based exporter.

 

Ban to control prices

Traders, who attended the meeting, see remote chances of the ban on white rice exports being lifted before February 2024 since the Government wants to review the kharif rice arrivals, which could continue till January. 

 

The Government banned exports of (non-basmati) white rice as part of its efforts to control rising foodgrain prices in a crucial year ahead of the 2024 Parliament elections. The move was a measure to overcome any supply shortage in view of rains damaging paddy crops in Punjab and Haryana, besides deficient rains affecting sowing of paddy in Karnataka, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.

 

However, the situation has improved since then with the area under kharif paddy increasing nearly 5 per cent as of August 11 to 328,22 lakh hectares. Rice stocks with the Food Corporation of India as of August 1 was 24.3 mt, a four-year low. However, it has an additional 19.61 mt of paddy (13.13 mt of rice), which is higher than 19.45 mt a year ago. 

J&K government Wednesday constituted a core committee and three sub-committees for successful conduct of the 'Gl (Geographical Indication) Mahotsav' in the Union Territory.

 

GI is a form of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) that identifies goods originating from a specific geographical location and having distinct nature, quality and characteristics linked to that location.

 

In the past couple of years, many J&K products have acquired GI tags. On August 8, Rajouri Chikri Wood craft from Rajouri district and Mushqbudji rice of Anantnag district received the GI tag.

 

As per GAD order, the Core Committee will oversee all arrangements and preparations for organizing the Gl Mahotsav. It will comprise Administrative Secretary of Agriculture Production Department as chairman, while Administrative Secretaries of Industries and Commerce; Rural Development & Panchayati Raj; Information & Public Relations; Transport; Hospitality & Protocol and Tourism & Culture departments will be its members.

 

Besides, a representative each of Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Gol; Finance Department, not below the rank of Additional Secretary; Home Department, not below the rank of Additional Secretary and School Education/Higher Education Department, not below the rank of Additional Secretary will also be its members.

 

Director, Agriculture Kashmir and Jammu will be its member secretary for Srinagar and Jammu respectively. The Committee will be serviced by the Agriculture Production Department.

 

Its Sub-committees with Director Industries and Commerce, Kashmir and Jammu as chairman will operate at divisional level(s) and will identify and select 100 Gl registered products. They will identify and select and invite 100 artisans or exhibitors to showcase selected Gl products during the event.

 

They will ensure that all logistics (fabrication & infrastructure) like stalls, stage, decor etc. and other requisite facilities are made available at the venue besides any other arrangements as may be required.

 

Accommodation/Transport Committee with Director, Hospitality & Protocol Department, J&K as its chairman, will make arrangements for hotel accommodation up to 3-star ranking (twin sharing) for artisans or exhibitors; for their 'to & fro' transportation (from venue to accommodation) besides will make adequate arrangements of accommodation and transportation for VlPs and guests from Government of India and states for the event.

 

Publicity/Cultural Show Committee with Director Information, J&K as its chairman has been tasked to give wide publicity to the event at UT and national level, through newspapers, electronic media, social-media and online platforms.

 

It will facilitate design, print & installation of promotional materials- hoardings & banners, signage; ensure making of short films, videography and photography of the event besides making arrangements for one-hour cultural shows on each day- evening time and arrangements for quiz/cooking shows etc.

 

It will also facilitate Gl awareness, workshop interaction and knowledge sharing sessions for which it will invite experts, entrepreneurs, artisans, students, academicians, scholars etc.

 

It will submit the outcome or output report of the event also.

India is in talks with Russia to import wheat at a discount to surging global prices in a rare move to boost supplies and curb food inflation ahead of state and national elections next year, according to four sources.

 

The imports would allow New Delhi to intervene more effectively in the market to drive down wheat prices that stoked inflation to a 15-month high in July.

 

'The government is exploring the possibility of imports through private trade and government-to-government deals. The decision will be made cautiously,' one of the sources told Reuters, when asked about wheat imports from Russia.

 

India has not imported wheat through diplomatic deals in years. The last time India imported a significant amount of wheat was in 2017, when private traders shipped in 5.3 million metric tons.

 

The government's plan to import Russian wheat is one of the supply-side measures being considered to bring down prices of key commodities like fuel, cereals and pulse along with an extension of rural schemes to ease the impact of inflation on the poor, two of the sources with knowledge of the matter said.

 

Sources did not want to be named as the discussions are private and the final decision might be weeks away. India's finance, trade and government spokespersons did not reply to emails and messages seeking comment.

 

Last month, Sanjeev Chopra, the most senior civil servant at the federal food ministry, said there was no proposal to import wheat from Russia.

 

LOW WHEAT STOCKS

 

Although India needs only 3 million to 4 million metric tons of wheat to plug the shortfall, New Delhi might consider importing 8 million to 9 million tons of wheat from Russia to have a far bigger impact on prices, another source said.

 

Since the war in Ukraine last year, Russia has become India's second biggest seller of goods mainly on account of discounted oil purchases by New Delhi.

 

'Russia has indicated its willingness to offer a discount on prevailing market prices. There are no restrictions on the export of food commodities from Russia,' one official said.

 

India is also importing sunflower oil from Russia and settling payments in U.S. dollars and is planning to use the same approach, the official added.

 

'India can easily secure a discount of $25 to $40 per ton from Russia. This will ensure that the landed cost of wheat remains significantly below local prices,' said a dealer based in Mumbai with a global trade house.

 

Wholesale wheat prices in India surged around 10% over two months to a seven-month high in August on limited supplies.

 

Wheat stocks at government warehouses were at 28.3 million tons on Aug. 1, 20% below the 10-year average.

 

Last year, India banned wheat exports due to lower output, and this year's crop is also expected to be at least 10% lower than the government's estimate.

Ahead of the 12th round of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations starting in New Delhi on Wednesday, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK has expressed optimism that officials on both sides will be 'able to get something working' and find a 'right fit' towards a mutually beneficial pact. High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami told PTI that he is positive as both countries seem keen to make necessary adjustments, recognising the complexities involved with the very different structures of the two similar-sized economies.

 

On the wider bilateral partnership, he expressed similar optimism around an 'obvious synergy' across different sectors.

 

'I'm positive about it (FTA)… My intention is that to the extent we can, we would like a mutually beneficial forward-looking FTA to be concluded,' said the High Commissioner.

 

'I believe both sides are keen on making the necessary adjustments. Even though we're both similar-sized economies, we are dissimilar in the structures of our economies and the complexities of our economies. So, getting the right fit together is very important,' he said.

 

The senior diplomat closely involved with the FTA negotiations, which began in January last year, noted that it is important that the UK side recognises some of the complexities of the structure of the Indian economy.

 

'It can't be the same as a free trade agreement with a peer-developed country. On the other hand, we too have to take into account the fact that the UK hasn't actually negotiated many free trade agreements in recent years when it was part of the European Union. So, there are those things that have to be adjusted. But overall, the trend line seems very positive,' he said.

 

The 11th round of negotiations concluded on July 18, with a joint outcome statement saying it covered detailed draft treaty text discussions across nine policy areas. According to official UK government statistics, the bilateral trade partnership was worth around GBP 36 billion in 2022 and an FTA is set to significantly enhance that relationship.

 

'I think our government has been very clear that we want the best possible partnership with the UK and, I believe, from what I hear from the UK leadership on both sides of the political aisle as well as from the senior leadership of the government here, that they too want a forward-looking partnership with us,' said Doraiswami.

 

India's Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said the 11th round of talks in London was 'very intense' and many issues got closed.

 

Out of the total 26 chapters in the proposed FTA, 19 have been closed. Investment is being negotiated as a separate agreement (bilateral investment treaty) between India and the UK.

 

'Now, there are only a few issues left. The UK team is coming to India during the Trade and Investment Working Group meeting (in Jaipur) and we are hoping that we would be closing those remaining issues.

 

'So, our target is that we close the issues with the UK when the UK team visits us in India and we are very hopeful that the issues will be sorted out,' Barthwal told reporters in New Delhi on Monday.

 

Noting that India-UK history is a complex one, High Commissioner Doraiswami stressed the importance of the bilateral partnership after 76 years of Independence from colonial rule to be informed by what happened in the past but not allow 'ourselves to become prisoners of it'.

 

'It's important that we build a relationship that touches upon our respective strengths. London is still one of the world's great capitals of finance, for instance. India is the future direction of global growth. There is an obvious synergy between the need for high-quality, well-priced finance for our infrastructure rollout, for our green transitions. And, there is obviously a need for quality finance to find the best possible rewards in terms of places to go to invest. Both of these obviously speak for themselves,' he said.

 

Asked about the recent visit to India of UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, who announced a GBP 95,000 fund to tackle Pro-Khalistan Extremism in the wake of an attack on the High Commission in London in March, the High Commissioner said it marked a milestone moment in enhancing the security pillar of the bilateral partnership.

 

'We live in an uncertain and often challenging world, increasingly so… It makes absolute sense for countries like the UK and India to work much more closely together to recognise that there are more complex challenges than the simple ones that people talk about. It's not just nation-states alone. There are challenges in terms of what is happening among communities, how communities are being radicalised, how it is changing the shape of domestic politics,' he said.

 

'In all of this, it is important for countries like the UK to work with us because we too have an understanding of how some of this happens. So, the visit of Security Minister Tugendhat last week is a very important milestone and I think he would have come back with a strong sense of how keen we are to make a proper, viable functioning security pillar part of our partnership,' he added.

 

On the business aspect of the relationship, the envoy pointed to how Indian businesses have built a huge presence in the UK market and stressed that 'it is really now time that we got more British businesses into India as well'.

Myanmar expects rice exports to surge in coming months as curbs on Indian sales and a spike in Thai and Vietnamese prices force buyers to hunt for other origins.

 

The tightening in global supply should help revive the Southeast Asian nation’s rice shipments, which slumped 56% in the first four months of the fiscal year, and bring it closer to its annual goal of earning $1 billion from exports of the grain, Ye Min Aung, president of the Myanmar Rice Federation, said in an interview last week.

Through a marketing support initiative, Meghalaya government has ensured that horticulture farmers’ income has been doubled and there is now plan to scale it up on a larger area.

 

After Lakadong turmeric and GI-tagged Khasi mandarin, Meghalaya’s pineapples are gaining more and more popularity in export market, mainly in the Gulf countries, which has also attracted many Indian exporters to start sourcing the fruit from the north-eastern State.

 

'We have started sourcing pineapple from Meghalaya, though in small quantity,' said Anand Singh Wangkhem, a director in X5 AGRO Farm Producer Company. Wangkhem said the company specialises in exporting chemical-free products like cinnamon, ginger and turmeric from the North-East, mainly from Manipur and Nagaland. He said pineapple was added in the export basket 2-3 years back and the demand is growing.

 

In a matter of great pride for the State, the sweetest pineapples from Meghalaya are the centrepiece of the elaborate display celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at the Al Wahda mall at Abu Dhabi, said State’s agriculture secretary Isawandra Laloo. These pineapples are being marketed through the Lulu Group in the Gulf markets, he added.

 

The farmers were previously receiving about ?10 per pineapple irrespective of the weight of the fruit, the agriculture department said adding farmers now earn ?16 per kg due to collectivisation and market linkage with international buyers. This is equivalent to receiving ?21 per fruit, with the average fruit size exported to Lulu group being 1.3 kg, it said.

 

USPs of Megh pineapples

The State government said that Meghalayan pineapples have very low pesticide and almost nil heavy metal residue. Also, it is less sour and significantly sweeter, it said. The pineapples have a Brix value of 16-18, which indicates the sweetness of the fruit, it added.

 

Pineapple has been selected under the One District One Product scheme in Ri Bhoi and East Garo Hills districts. Jamge Integrated Village Cooperative Society (IVCS) of East Garo Hills worked with Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA) under the state government’s guidance to make it happen, officials said. The Jamge IVCS has over 250 farming households from four villages, who produce almost 100 tonnes of pineapples throughout the seasons.

 

Of late, recognizing the importance of processing of perishable horticulture produce like pineapple, the state has been further working towards increasing the processing capacity and infrastructure in the state. The government facilitated a collaboration between Karnataka’s IQF Food and Ri Bhoi’s Umdihar IVCS to set up a mobile processing unit for quick freezing of pineapples.

 

Besides, the state has also been helping farmers’ groups enter into sourcing arrangement with ompanies like Reliance Fresh, officials said citing the example of pineapples sold at Reliance Retail stores across Assam.

 

Meghalaya’s share in India’s pineapple production is about 8 per cent. In 2023, it is exporting for the first time in a big way as one trial shipment before 2020 was done of less than 10 quintal. So far, 2.3 tonnes have been exported since April this year, though export season starts from June-end or early July.

Ministry of Ayush and World Health Organisation are organising the two day Traditional Medicine Global Summit, on 17th and 18th August 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Secretary, Ministry of Ayush Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha brief the media today at Gandhinagar, Gujrat ahead of the first global summit on traditional medicine. Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Shri Lav Agarwal also addressed the media.

 

The Union AYUSH Secretary highlighted that the Global Centre on Traditional Medicines in Jamnagar, Gujarat, established by the WHO, is the first such centre in a developing country. He also informed that the WHO will convene the Traditional Medicine Global Summit, co-hosted by the Ministry of AYUSH, on 17th and 18th August, 2023 in Gandhinagar which will explore the role of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in addressing pressing health challenges and driving progress in global health and sustainable development.

 

In response to a question on holistic healthcare in Ayush, Vd. Kotecha said that work on traditional medicine systems is ongoing in multiple directions on multiple platforms. He said that Along with mainstream health care, evidence-based research is being done in the field of AYUSH today in dealing with diseases like cancer, TB, communicable diseases and women and child health with scientific approach.

 

Addressing the media persons Vd. Kotecha, stated, “The G20 is a unique opportunity to showcase India's leadership in the field of traditional medicine. In the last 9 years, India has developed eight folds in the field of traditional medicine. By the end of the year, more than 12,500 Ayush-based Health & wellness centers will be functional across the nation, out of which 8,500 are already in place”.

 

During the discussion, Vd.  Kotecha shared that the Ayush visa will facilitate global access to Indian traditional medicine systems and will usher in a new era of comprehensive healthcare. One of the summit’s most noteworthy features is the Ayush Exhibition Zone, an attraction not to be missed, he added. It promises to be an immersive experience with innovative and interactive kiosks.

 

During the press briefing, secretary Ayush applauded the collaboration between the Indian government and the WHO in hosting the largest international event on Traditional Medicine. He highlighted the significance of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, which was inaugurated in 2022 as the United Nation’s first and largest traditional medicine outpost in any developing country.

 

Health ministers from 30 countries will attend this two-day event. It is expected to be one of the largest gatherings of its kind, bringing together participants from over 90 countries, distinguished members of academia, government representatives and significant players from the traditional medicine sector.

 

Shri Lav Agarwal provided an overview of India’s healthcare sector and its progress, as well as the challenges it faces and its current priorities. With India holding the current G20 presidency, he highlighted the nation’s strengths in healthcare and urged for efforts to be focused on maximizing its contribution to the global healthcare sector.

 

Shri Lav Agarwal praised India’s contribution to the world’s well-being. He brought to attention the many Yoga Centres that have come up in the far-flung regions of the globe, enhancing their healthcare. He added that India’s approach is holistic healthcare through modern and Ayush medicine.

Nepal's festive season, which occurs between October and November, could be at risk of experiencing elevated prices for rice and sugar if measures to ensure a steady supply are not effectively implemented.

 

The Nepal government has requested India to facilitate the supply of paddy, rice and sugar, a senior official said in Kathmandu on Wednesday. According to the official, Nepal has urged India as a precautionary measure to mitigate any possible food scarcity in the upcoming festive season.

 

The request was made through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Indian authorities last week, Commerce and Supplies Ministry Joint Secretary Ram Chandra Tiwari said.

 

'Nepal has requested India to provide one million tonnes of paddy, 1,00,000 tonnes of rice, and 50,000 tonnes of sugar,' he said.

 

'No immediate shortage of rice and sugar in the market: Nepal

 

Though there is no immediate shortage of rice and sugar in the market, there are rumours about its possible scarcity following India's decision to ban the export of non-basmati white rice to the international market.

 

So as a precautionary measure, the Nepal government has asked India to supply these food items, Tiwari said.

 

There are also concerns that traders might resort to hoarding these goods, potentially driving up prices as the festive season approaches, market analysts opine.

 

Nepal's festive season, which occurs between October and November, could be at risk of experiencing elevated prices for rice and sugar if measures to ensure a steady supply are not effectively implemented, they say.

 

India bans export of non-basmati white rice 

 

On July 20, the Indian government banned exports of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supply and keep retail prices under check during the upcoming festive season. Non-basmati white rice constitutes about 25 per cent of total rice exported from the country.

 

Considering the Indian ban on non-basmati rice exports and the current weather phenomenon in Nepal, there may be a food crisis for a short period, say experts.

 

Nepal is heavily dependent on imported food, mostly from India. According to a recent report in The Kathmandu Post newspaper, from April 2021 to March 22, Nepal imported 1.4 million tonnes of rice — 1.38 million tonnes of non-basmati and 19,000 tonnes of basmati rice — from India, the highest import on record.

 

Nepali traders say that immediately after India stopped the export of rice, retail prices jumped by NRs 200 to NRs 250 per 25-kg bag. They say that prices are expected to increase further, particularly during the festive season, report said.

 

Nepal's request for foodgrains came as India is importing tomatoes from the Himalayan nation to arrest the spike in prices following heavy rainfall in key procuring centres in the country.