“This surge in food inflation has become a swelling source of concern for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which last week banned exports of several rice varieties after weeks of public anger over high prices, writes the Financial Times.
“When it comes to food trade, no government — Modi or anyone — takes a longer-term view,” said Avinash Kishore, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “Poorer Indians’ pockets are already being pinched [and] with grain prices going up, no government would want to take that risk, even in a normal year — and this year is an election year.”
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