A House panel has called for lifting the ban on wheat and premium non-basmati rice exports at the earliest. This, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce said, is an immediate solution to the food grain glut in the country.

However, while lifting the ban, the Government should also keep in view the domestic requirement, it said.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Secretary, Mr Rahul Khullar, said on Thursday that the Government may allow exports of additional quantity of non-basmati rice.

The Commerce Ministry is understood to have proposed export of an additional two million tonnes of non-basmati rice at a minimum export price of $500 a tonne.

An Empowered Group of Ministers is expected to consider this proposal on Friday.

Last month, the Centre had lifted an over three-year old ban on non-basmati rice exports and had permitted shipments of one million tonne of the item at a minimum export price of $400 a tonne.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court had extended the stay till September 7 on export of non-basmati rice on allegations of lack of transparency in the quota allocation process.

In a bid to augment domestic supplies, the Government had in 2007 banned private companies from exporting wheat and non-basmati rice in 2008.

The House panel, in its report, expressed displeasure over the Government's policy to accumulate food grains over and above the buffer norms.

It recommended that the Government should take immediate action to export surplus food grains so that the same is not wasted due to poor storage capacity.

The Government must also fix responsibility on those entrusted with storage of food grain and ensure that the cost of wasted grain is recovered from those responsible for the loss, it said.

It recommended that the Government should evolve a policy that facilitates India's exporters in getting a fair share of the world market.

>arun.s@thehindu.co.in

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