DGFT Grants Exemption for Export of Key Agricultural Commodities to Bhutan from All Export Restrictions [Read Notification]
DGFT allowed free export of 23 key agricultural commodities including rice, wheat, onions, edible oils, sugar, and salt to Bhutan by exempting them from all export restrictions.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry,Government of India, through the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), issued Notification No. 36/2025-26 dated October 3, 2025, announcing a major exemption for the export of key agricultural commodities to Bhutan.
The government has allowed the export of several essential food and farm products to Bhutan without any export restrictions or prohibitions. This decision takes immediate effect and will remain valid until further orders.
According to the DGFT, the notification has been issued under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 and is in line with the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023. The amendment now permits Indian exporters to freely export a wide range of agricultural products to Bhutan that were earlier subject to export conditions.
The commodities exempted from all export restrictions include:
- Milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter
- Milk and cream, not concentrated or without added sugar
- Potatoes, both fresh and chilled
- Tomatoes, fresh or chilled
- Onions and shallots, fresh or chilled
- Dried onions, whether whole, sliced, or powdered
- Dried lentils, shelled or unshelled
- Tea, whether flavoured or unflavoured
- Wheat and meslin, in all forms
- Wheat flour (atta)
- Non-basmati rice
- Basmati rice
- Soybean oil, whether crude or refined
- Groundnut oil, crude or refined
- Palm oil and its fractions, crude or refined
- Sunflower oil and its fractions, crude or refined
- Mustard and rapeseed oil, crude or refined
- Sugar, including cane sugar and beet sugar
- Chemically pure sucrose, in solid form
- Molasses resulting from sugar production
- Salt, including table salt and denatured salt
- Iodised salt
- Other edible salts
The DGFT clarified that all listed items are now freely exportable to Bhutan without any special permission. This initiative reflects India’s commitment to regional cooperation and its role as a reliable trade partner for neighboring countries.
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