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Harish Damodaran

New Delhi , Oct. 20

EVEN as the country is in the midst of harvesting a bumper kharif crop, the Government has decided to import 50,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar.

The move, which comes in the wake of the recent `ASEAN+India' summit attended by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is expected to receive the Cabinet's endorsement on Tuesday.

The decision to import 50,000 tonnes from Myanmar comes at a time, when the Agriculture Ministry has estimated the country's kharif rice output to touch 75.05 million tonnes (mt) this year, compared with last year's 66.51 mt.

Further, stocks in the central pool are at a comfortable level of around 7 mt.

With Food Corporation of India and State agencies expected to procure around 20 mt of rice in the new marketing season, the public godowns may overflow with stocks in the months ahead.

The Government's defence is that the imported rice would be directed solely for consumption in the North-Eastern States. "It does not make economic sense to transport rice that procured from Punjab or Haryana all the way to Tripura or Mizoram. Consumers in these States would find it more affordable to buy rice from Myanmar", officials said.

But then, it is also a fact that the North-East is also a huge market for the surplus rice produced in West Bengal, Bihar, Eastern UP and Orissa.

Farmers in these States would stand to lose on account of imports from Myanmar.

It is not known whether the rice imported from Myanmar would be exempted from payment of duty. Currently, import of rice is subject to a 70 per cent basic custom duty.

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