NEW DELHI: India has decided to ease its rice export ban to Singapore as the city-state faces shortages.
“India has decided to allow the export of rice to meet the food security requirements of Singapore,” said Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Last month, India banned the export of rice to control soaring prices in the domestic market. However, a special relaxation was allowed for Singapore as it happens to be the largest financial investor in India. It is investing close to $17.2 billion in various projects in India, according to an estimate.
About 90 per cent of rice produced in the world is in Asia and India is said to contribute nearly 40 per cent of the total rice exports globally. Singapore depends largely on India, Thailand and Vietnam for rice imports.
India banned the export of non-basmati white rice to control the rise in prices on July 20th. This ban impacted nearly 80 per cent of the exports. However, on Wednesday, the government decided to permit exports of non-basmati rice lying in ports. About 150,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice will be released from various ports for exports – most are said to be heading for East and West African countries.