The government has issued a final directive that imported rice must be brought to the market by October 30, and has decided not to extend the deadline again, according to food ministry sources.

The food ministry has sent a letter with the decision to the director general of the Directorate of Food. The letter was sent on Friday, October 15, a weekly government holiday.

The letter says that importers among the firms allocated private rice imports who have opened letters of credit (LCs) but have not yet been able to market their rice are given until the 30th to do so. The deadline will not be extended again.

The government decided to allow rice imports at reduced duty to rein in the rice market. On July 6 the food ministry wrote to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) asking it to cut the duty on rice imports. On August 12 the NBR issued a notification cutting the import duty on rice from 62.5 per cent to 25 per cent. The concession will remain in force until October 30.

Between August 17 and August 30 the food ministry gave 415 individuals and firms permission to import 16.93 lakh tonnes of parboiled and non-parboiled (atap) rice. By September 30, 2 lakh tonnes of rice had been imported.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.