India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, banned shipments of non-basmati white rice to maintain domestic prices at comfortable levels ahead of the general election due in early 2024.

The government halted overseas sales of the grain with immediate effect, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, confirming a Bloomberg report published on July 13. Shipments will be allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Indian government to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on request of their governments, it said.

Although the move could soften domestic prices of the staple, global costs could advance further at a time when a return of the El Niño weather pattern is already raising concerns about crop damages.