Amid rising domestic rice prices, the government of India has announced that it has no plans to abolish customs duty on rice import for now as there were sufficient stocks of the food grain.
The rise in retail prices of rice about 25 per cent in the last four months has become a concern for the government, and it was believed to be considering reducing or eliminating the duty.
India's rice production touched record in 2008-09 at 99.15 million MT, helping the government achieve an all-time-high procurement of rice at about 33 million MT. However, crop prospects this year have been affected by drought in about half the country.
By news desk on September 25,2009
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