No floor price for non-basmati rice exports as government lifts curbs

Amid a bumper paddy crop, government has decided to scrap the export duty on parboiled rice and removed the Minimum Export Price (MEP) on overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice, moves that will force countries from Thailand and Vietnam to Pakistan to cut prices in the international market to deal with additional stocks.

This also opens the doors for Indian tillers to tap the overseas market instead of depending on the Food Corporation of India to pick up their produce at the minimum support price at a time when godowns have three times the required buffer stock. India is the world’s largest exporter of rice.

“The notification to remove the earlier 10% export duty on parboiled rice will help exporters to be competitive in price-sensitive Africa. The scrapping of MEP on white rice will help us compete with Pakistani counterparts who are quoting below $460 when compared with India at $490 per tonne,” said B V Krishna Rao, president of Rice Exporters Association. Earlier, the MEP for white rice was $490 per tonne.

In July 2023, government had clamped down on exports to tame inflationary expectations amid signals of a weak monsoon. It had also turned down Karnataka’s request to release extra stock from the central pool to help the Congress government fulfil its promise of 5 kg extra subsidised rice in addition to what the Centre was already providing.

This article has been republished from The Times of India