Latest News | Govt Permits Potato Imports from Bhutan Without Licence

New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) The government on Friday permitted imports of potatoes from Bhutan without licence, a move aimed at boosting domestic supply and control prices of the agricultural commodity.

The imports are allowed without licence only up to January 31, 2021, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

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Imports of potatoes, otherwise, fall in the restricted category, which means that an importer requires a licence from the DGFT for the inbound shipments. But, the government on Friday partially relaxed the import norms.

"Import of potatoes...is allowed for import from Bhutan without licence up to January 31, 2021," it said.

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In a public notice, the Directorate has laid out the procedure for import of potatoes under the TRQ (tariff rate quota) scheme.

According to the procedure, only one application against one IEC (import export code) will be considered and successful applicants will have to ensure that the import consignment reaches the Indian ports on or before January 31 next year.

Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, who also holds the commerce portfolio, said 30,000 tonnes of potato is being imported from Bhutan in order to improve the local supply and control prices of the key commodity.

"We are going to import about 10 lakh tonnes of potato and bring prices under control," he added.

Potato prices in the national capital are hovering at around Rs 40-50 per kg.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)