Basmati rice, wheat export bans may be lifted
India will review bans on exports of wheat and basmati rice, but shipments of other grades of rice will not be allowed at least until November, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said. India last exported wheat in the 2003-04 fiscal year and became an importer in the past two years, but a bumper crop has helped the government purchase from local farmers a record 24.8 million tonnes of the staple this year. Pawar said on Thursday that a government panel, called the Empowered Group of Ministers , (EGoM), would soon consider lifting the ban on wheat exports.