New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS): Just days after assuring that there are no plans to restrict export of non-Basmati parboiled rice, the Centre late on Friday imposed 20 per cent export duty on par-boiled rice with immediate effect.

The decision was taken to curb the rising prices of rice, and it comes at a time when food inflation for July had skyrocketed to 11 per cent, pushing the retail inflation for the month to 7.44 per cent.

The decision to impose a 20 per cent export duty on parboiled rice will make purchasing the commodity expensive for foreign buyers, thus limiting its overseas sales and at the same time boosting its domestic availability.

India had halted the export of white rice on July 20, sending global prices to a 12-year high as measured by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) rice price index.

The fresh curb on the export of the parboiled variety is likely to accelerate global prices further. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday had said that curbing inflation was a priority area for the government at present.