New Delhi: The government has banned exports of non-basmati white rice “with immediate effect”, according to a notification issued by the by the Directorate of Foreign Trade, which comes under the Department of Commerce, on Thursday, July 20.This is semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed. However, there has been no change in the export policy of non-basmati rice (par boiled rice) and basmati rice, which forms the bulk of rice exports.According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the government amended the export policy of the commodity from “free” to “prohibited”.“In order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the Indian market and to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market, Government of India has amended the Export Policy of the above variety from ‘Free with export duty of 20%’ to ‘Prohibited’ with immediate effect,” said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.“Domestic prices of rice are on an increasing trend. Retail prices have increased by 11.5% over a year and 3% over the past month,” the ministry said in a statement.Non-basmati white rice constitutes about 25% of the total rice exported from the country. “The prohibition on export of non-basmati white rice will lead to lowering of prices for the consumers in the country,” it said.The Economic Times had reported that uneven distribution of rainfall in the key rice-growing areas of the country pushed up prices of the grain by up to 20% in the last ten days.The move also comes a month after the Union government disallowed the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to sell rice directly to states, including Karnataka, which had had reached a deal with the FCI to buy 2.28 lakh metric tons of rice at Rs 3,400 per quintal.The state made the agreement with the Corporation for its Anna Bhagya programme, which was part of its election promises.A day after Karnataka’s agreement with the FCI, the Union government directed the Corporation to release 15 lakh metric tonnes of rice and wheat in the open market and stop direct sale to states, except those in the north east.