New Delhi, March 31
In a slew of measures to combat inflation, the government today decided to scrap import duty on crude palm and soya oils and ban export of non-basmati rice and pulses. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the cabinet committee on prices at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official residence here tonight.
The meeting approved ban on export of non-basmati rice and decided to extend the ban on pulses export for one more year from today, finance minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting.
These decisions will come into effect from midnight tonight, but a notification would be issued tomorrow, he said. Chidambaram said all edible oils in crude form could be imported at zero duty, while the duty on oils in the refined form would be 7.5 per cent.
The government also decided to raise the minimum export price of basmati rice to $1,200 per tonne from $1100 to discourage export and increase availability in the domestic market.
The union government also advised states to impose limits on stocks of commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, besides asking steel producers not to raise prices. Asked whether these measures would help in containing inflation, which has touched 6.68 per cent for the week ended March 15, Chidambaram said: “I sincerely hope so.”
— PTI
