India Imposes Ban on Rice Export, Creating Ripples in Nepal

India has banned the export of rice. The Department of Commerce and Foreign Trade of India announced this by issuing a notice on Thursday.

Such a decision by India will cause a big shock to the country, including Nepal. According to the notification from the department, the export of Mota, Jiramsina, and other rice varieties under Customs Harmony Code 1003090 has been banned. Rice, which is the main source of food in Nepal, has been imported from India.

In the 11 months of the fiscal year until Jestha of 2079/80, Nepal imported only 20.89 crore kilos of rice worth Rs. 14.44 Arba from India.

The Indian media claims that this decision was taken to prevent food shortages in the country due to low monsoon in India, which would reduce rice production.