Hari Sharan Basnet of Machhegaun, Kirtipur had bought a 25-kg bag of Pearl brand rice from India for Rs2,150 two weeks ago. Last week, after he heard that India had banned rice exports, he went to buy another bag expecting the price to increase. And so it had; he was too late. “On Monday, I paid Rs2,451 for the same rice that I bought two weeks ago,” he told the Post. “I bought it anyway.” Basnet says the same bag of rice cost Rs1,650 last year, which means the price went up by Rs800 per bag in one year.