The export ban had come amid a marginal dip in rice production and the looming threat of an erratic monsoon last year. What is the situation this year? What is India's status as a rice exporter?

The Centre Saturday (September 28) lifted the ban on export of Non-Basmati White Rice. It has, however, imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $490 per tonne.

A day before, the government had removed the 20% export duty on Non-Basmati White rice, and halved export duty on three other categories of rice. The duty on ‘rice in the husk (paddy or rough)’, ‘husked (brown) rice’, and ‘parboiled rice’ was reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

The Indian government has lifted the ban on exporting non-basmati white rice, effective September 28, 2024. This decision comes after the ban imposed on July 20, 2023, with the aim of ensuring adequate domestic rice supply and stabilizing prices.

Several factors contributed to the government's decision to lift the ban:

• Ample Stock: The government's godowns were well-stocked with rice.
• Increased Output: The kharif season of 2022-23 witnessed a higher rice output, reaching 113.26 million tonnes.
• Declining Wholesale Prices: Wholesale rice prices were on a downward trend compared to the previous week and month.

In addition to lifting the ban, the government also reduced the export duty on parboiled rice from 20% to 10%. However, a minimum export price (MEP) of $490 per tonne was implemented for non-basmati white rice.

The move has been positively received by exporters, who view it as a significant boost to the agricultural industry.

Why the decision now?

The export ban had come amid a marginal dip in rice production and the looming threat of an erratic monsoon last year.

This year, sowing of paddy during the ongoing kharif season has been higher, the crop is normal, and a bumper output is expected. Wholesale prices are down, while the Central pool is well-stocked. Factors behind this are:

Higher sowing: Though paddy is grown in all three seasons in India, most of it is planted in kharif. With a good monsoon, farmers have planted more paddy than last year. As per the agriculture ministry, the area under paddy was reported at 413.50 lakh hectare as on September 20 this year, 2.2 per cent higher than last year (404.50 lakh hectares) and 3 per cent higher than the normal area (401.55 lakh hectares during five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23). The increase has been reported from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Declining wholesale prices, stable retail inflation: Data on the Centre’s UPAg portal show that the wholesale price of rice was recorded at Rs 3,324.99 per quintal on September 27, lower than Rs 3,597.09 per quintal a week ago, and Rs 3,502.91 per quintal a month ago.

However, the Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation of rice has been hovering in double digits for the past two years. It started rising from June 2022 and reached its peak in July 2023 (13.09 per cent), when the government banned exports. It remained in double digits for 18 months, before coming down to 9.52 per cent in August.

Surplus stocks: Food Corporation of India data show that rice stock in the Central pool was 323.11 lakh tonnes on September 1. Along with unmilled paddy, the rice stock would be 423 lakh tonnes, much higher than the buffer stock norms. The Centre is required to maintain a stock of 135.40 LMT of rice as on the first day of July and 102.50 lakh tonnes on the first day of October.

Who will be impacted by the move?

Along with easing export restrictions, the Centre has also allowed state governments to buy rice for their welfare schemes, and distilleries for ethanol making.

Before its export was banned, Non-Basmati White rice constituted about 25 per cent of the total rice exported from the country. The lifting of the ban will help traders, who, if they were at all exporting, were paying a 20% duty. It will boost export sentiment and may benefit farmers who grow non-Basmati premium varieties like Sona Masoori (mainly grown in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), which was hit by the ban.

For domestic consumers, retail prices, which are already elevated, may further go up.

Was any export taking place during the ban?

The Centre had allowed exports “on the basis of permission granted” to meet the food security needs of other countries, based on the request of their governments.

Thus, the rice was being exported, through the newly formed National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL), to United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bhutan, Mauritius, Singapore, Nepal, Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivore, Republic of Guinea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Seychelles, among others.

What is India’s status as a rice exporter?

India is the second largest producer and the biggest exporter of rice.
India, along with China, accounts for over half of the world’s rice production. China, however, is also the biggest consumer of rice, leaving little for exports.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), India accounted for 33 per cent (17 million tonnes) of the world’s total rice exports (53 million tonnes) during the calendar year 2023. In 2022, before the ban on Non-Basmati White Rice shipments, India accounted for about 40 per cent of the total rice exports (56 million tonnes) in the world.

Who are India’s competitors?

Two east Asian countries—Thailand and Vietnam—are the two main competitors of India in the global rice market. In 2023, the combined rice export of these two countries was almost equal to Indian exports. Besides, Pakistan, Cambodia and the United States are also in the list of rice exporters.

Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, European Union, Nigeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are the top rice importers.

What does India’s export breakup look like?

India’s rice exports are broadly categorised into basmati and non-basmati rice. The non-basmati rice category includes six subcategories— rice in husk of seed quality; other rice in husk; husked (brown) rice; rice parboiled; non-basmati white rice; and broken rice.

Basmati accounts for almost one third of India’s total rice export. In the financial year 2023-24, Basmati export was recorded at 52.42 lakh tonnes.

In the non-Basmati category, rice in husk of seed quality saw exports of only 19,788 tonnes in 2023-24. This was shipped mainly to the Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal. Other rice in husk goes mainly to Nepal and Bhutan. India exported 3.19 lakh tonnes of this rice during 2023-24.

Husked (brown) rice saw a jump in exports last year. The main buyers were Vietnam, Malaysia and the Netherlands. India exported a quantity of 3.01 lakh tonnes of husked (brown) rice during 2023-24. Parboiled rice exports stood at 75.70 lakh tonnes during 2023-24. Main importers were Benin, Guinea, Togo, Somalia, Cote D’ Ivoire, Djibouti and Liberia.

Non-basmati white rice went to Kenya, Mozambique, Cameroon, Vietnam, Malaysia, Togo, Madagascar, Cote D’ Ivoire, and Benin in the biggest quantities. India exported 23.59 lakh tonnes of this rice during 2023-24.

Broken rice, meanwhile, was imported mainly by Senegal, Gambia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cote D’ Ivoire, Djibouti, Netherlands and Mali. India exported 5.45 lakh tonnes of broken rice last year.