New Delhi: India has raised the minimum price for non-basmati rice exports to $650 per tonne free-on-board from $500, the commerce ministry said, in a move to slow sales overseas.
Ministry notification: Rice for sale in Kahari baoli, Delhi. Basmati and non-basmati rice would now only be exported through four ports. (Photo: Ramesh Pathania/ Mint)
“The step is aimed at restricting outflow of rice from the country,” Vijay Sethia, president of the All India Rice Exporters’ Association, said on Friday.
The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), an arm of the commerce ministry, said in a notification dated 5 March on its website, www.dgft.delhi.nic.in, that the floor export price has been raised to Rs26,000 or $650 a tonne.
The government has been trying to discourage rice exports to rein in rising domestic prices.
India had banned exports of all non-basmati rice on 9 October, but two weeks later relented to protests from traders and allowed sales at a floor price of $425 a tonne.
In December, the floor price for exports was raised to $500.
DGFT said basmati and non-basmati rice would now only be exported through four ports—Kandla and Mumbai on the west coast, and Kakinada and Kolkata on the east coast.
“We are going to request the government to allow exports via Mundra port also,” Sethia said. Mundra, in Gujarat, is one of the country’s biggest ports for grains.
The government has also fixed a minimum export price for basmati rice to the Russian Federation at $900, or Rs36,000, per tonne. India normally exports 4 million tonnes (mt) of rice annually, including 1mt of aromatic basmati rice, which is exclusively grown in the northern parts of India and Pakistan.