The government has increased the border trade limit to US$ 2.0 million (20 lakh) for import of rice from Myanmar in a single consignment under government management without opening letters of credit (L/Cs).
But the ceiling of border trade, maximum $35,000 annually, will not be effective in this case.
The ministry of commerce recently issued a statutory regulatory order (SRO) amending the existing import policy for 2006-09 incorporating this change.
Officials said the government has taken the decision to ease import of rice to facilitate the government's procurement of food grains.
The government until June last procured around 526,000 tonnes of rice and 42,000 tonnes of paddy.
The government's rice procurement target this year has surpassed that of last year by 200,000 tonnes.
The government has signed agreements to import 932,000 tonnes of rice, of which, 526,000 tonnes have already arrived.
The government purchase committee has approved two tenders for importing 20,000 tonnes of white rice (atap) from Myanmar. The food and disaster management ministry will import the rice from two private traders of Myanmar at $ 395.50 per tonne.
Officials said the government has planned to distribute around 2,974,000 tonnes of rice in the current fiscal as a part of its social safety net programme to keep the food grain prices stable in the local market.
The government will start the open market sale (OMS) programme ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, according to the officials.
Under the distribution plan, around 850,000 tonnes of rice will be distributed through the OMS programme.
The Food and Disaster Management Ministry last year distributed 267,000 tonnes of rice in September-October and January-May through the OMS programme.
The food ministry has now built a stock of rice and wheat to the tune of around 861,000 tonnes against 450,000 tonnes of the corresponding period of last year, officials said.
