In a move to contain price rise, the government has imposed a 20 per cent duty on the export of parboiled rice and has set a minimum export price for basmati rice to restrict shipments.

The export duty, imposed on August 25, will remain effective till October 16, the finance ministry said in a notification issued late last night.

Duty exemption would be available on parboiled rice lying in customs ports that have not been granted LEO (let export order) and are backed by valid LCs (Letters of Credit) before August 25.

The commerce ministry, following a meeting of the committee of secretaries (CoS), headed by the cabinet secretary earlier this week, has asked Apeda to issue a shipment certificate for the contract over $1200 per mt.

This will be effective till October 15 and the situation will be reviewed in the first week of October.

A copy of the commerce ministry’s directive to Apeda is available with The Telegraph.

Unlike for other commodities in which the Director General of Foreign Trade notifies the MEP, in the case of basmati, the agri-export promotion body Apeda will implement it, the sources said.

Basmati rice export is allowed only after registration of contract with Apeda, which issues certificates to exporters allowing shipments.

The restrictions come amidst the latest data indicating that the area under all pulses is lower by 8.3 per cent at 117.44 lakh hectares (lh) as of August 25 against 128.07 lh a year ago.