Govt approves 0.9 MT broken rice exports to five nations
By Sandip Das
The government on Thursday approved the export of approximately 0.9 million tonne (MT) of broken rice to five African and Asian countries through National Cooperative Export Ltd (NCEL).According to a Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification, broken rice exports have been approved for Senegal (0.5 MT), Mali (0.1 MT), Gambia (0.05 MT), Indonesia (0.2 MT) and Bhutan (48,804 tonne).
In September 2022, India had imposed a ban on broken rice exports. However, shipments are allowed on a case-to-case basis for meeting the food security requirement of the countries.
Additionally, DGFT approved the shipment of wheat (14,184 tonne), flour (5326 tonne) and maida (15,226 tonne) to Bhutan.India had banned wheat exports in May 2022. However, exports of wheat are approved on a case-to-case basis following requests from importing countries.
Last month, the government approved exports of 1.34 MT of non-basmati white rice to Philippines (0.29 MT), Cameroon (0.19 MT), Malaysia (0.17 MT), Ivory Coast (0.14 MT), republic of Guinea (0.14 MT), Nepal (95,000 tonne) and Seychelles (800 tonne) through NCEL.
In September, the government approved exports of 75,000 tone of non-basmati rice to the UAE through NCEL.In August, the government approved exports of 0.14 MT of white rice to Bhutan (79,000 tonne), Singapore (50,000 tonne) and Mauritius (14000 tonne) through the NCEL.
On July 20, while the government banned shipment of white rice to boost domestic supplies, exports are allowed to meet the food security needs of the developing countries through a government to government (G2G) route.
It had imposed 20% export duties on par-boiled rice to improve domestic supplies till March 31, 2024.Retail rice prices rose by 11.64% in October, marginally lower from previous month. Rice inflation has been rising in double digits since the beginning of the year.India has been the world’s largest exporter of rice over the last decade with more than 40% share in annual global rice trade of 55 MT.
In FY23, India exported a record 17.78 MT of non-basmati rice worth of $ 6.35 billion.During the April-September period of the current fiscal, the country has exported 6.8 MT of non-basmati rice, a decline of 23% from the same period previous fiscal.The government on October 26 had reduced the floor price for exports of basmati rice to $950/tonne from $1200/tonne imposed in August following representation from the exporters such as high MEP was not viable for exports.
This article has been republished from The Financial Express