India's Agriculture and Food Ministry is considering imposing a cess on export of non-basmati rice with a view to ensure availability of the grain in the domestic market.

The government is also viewing a proposal to increase the Minimum Export Price (MEP) of non-basmati rice from the current price of $500 PMT.

The government had fixed the MEP at $500 or Rs 20,000 per ton for non-basmati rice to ensure buffer stocks for the public distribution system as well as to curtail the rising domestic prices

India has exported 31.87 lakh MT of non-basmati rice, valued at Rs 3,759.84 crore during April-October of the current fiscal.