The centre on Wednesday clarified that there will be no duty on the exports of Kala Namak rice, a premium rice brand, with a rider that the export quantity is restricted to 1,000 metric tonnes.
Earlier there was a duty of 20% on the exports of this variety of rice.
The government on Tuesday had allowed exports of Kala Namak rice up to an aggregate quantity of 1,000 metric tonnes through six specified customs stations. Their exports were prohibited till now.
According to an official notification by the department of revenue, the export of Kala namak rice will be permitted through customs stations in Varanasi Air Cargo, Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House (JNCH) at Nhava Sheva (Raigad, Maharashtra), Customs House Kandla (Gujarat), Land Customs Station (LCS) Nepalganj in Bahraich district (UP), LCS Sonauli at Maharajganj district (UP) or LCS Barhni in Siddharthnagar district (UP).
“Authorized signatory for certification of Kala Namak rice and its quantity will be Director, Agriculture Marketing & Foreign Trade, Lucknow,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
Exports of non-basmati white rice were banned on July 20 last year to boost domestic supply.
However exports are allowed on the basis of permission granted by the government to certain countries to meet their food security needs and on request.
So far, India has allocated export quotas of non-basmati white rice to Bhutan, Mauritius, the UAE, Singapore, Cameroon, Cote D’ Ivore, Guinea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Seychelles.