§ MR. BADEN-POWELL (Liverpool, Kirkdale)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the only Export Duty levied on Indian produce is a duty of three annas per maund levied on all rice exported from India, and which, at present prices, is equivalent to 12½ per centum ad valorem on Burmah rough rice; whether the repeal, in 1873, of the Export Duty on wheat was followed by a large and steady increase in the export of wheat; and, whether Her Majesty's Government contemplate the repeal of, 1401 or any reduction in, the Export Duty now levied on Indian rice?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)Yes; but according to a calculation made in the India Office, the rate is about 7 per cent, not 12½ per cent. The Secretary of State regrets that, for the present, the state of the Indian finances does not admit of a repeal of the Export Duty on rice.