India won't lift ban on export of non-basmati rice
India has decided to keep up the ban on export of non-basmati rice in the face of a double-digit inflation continuing to hit the economy.
The decision to retain the ban was taken at a meeting of a group of ministers headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Tuesday.
"The ban on export of non-basmati rice will continue", said an official after the meeting.
The ban imposed in March this year to help improve availability of non-basmati rice in domestic markets.
In a related development, the Indian government has accepted a long-pending demand of agricultural scientists and the industry by declaring Pusa 1121 as a basmati variety of rice by widening the definition of 'basmati.'
The variety was developed by Indian Agriculture Research Institute in 2003 and has all the ingredients of basmati rice.
India exports rice and onion, among other things, to Bangladesh.
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