Dhaka, Aug. 26 -- The Indian government has imposed a 20 percent duty on exports of parboiled rice with immediate effect - a decision feared to send global prices higher. With the latest move late on Friday night, India has expanded a range of curbs on overseas shipments of cereals amid high domestic prices, according to the Hindustan Times. India, the world's largest exporter of grain, had halted the export of white rice in July, sending global prices to a 12-year high as measured by the Food and Agriculture Organization's rice price index.

The tariff by India will make parboiled rice expensive for foreign buyers, thereby limiting its overseas sales and boosting domestic availability, the newspaper said. Last month's export ban on commo...