Newspaper: The Hindu (Business Line) | Edition: New Delhi | Date:6 (Wed.) Sep. 2000
Non-Basmati Rice Exports Vital
India could export a substantial quantity of rice if the Government provides the commodity to exporters at subsidized prices and delivers it to ports, the Chairman and Managing Director of Rice India Exports (P) Limited, Mr. Narender Prakash, said on Wednesday.

"We are being beaten in the export market because we have a price difference of $30 to $40 per tonne with other countries though our rice is more tasty," Mr. Prakash told Reuters.

India fixes high support prices for rice and also has high input costs which make the Indian rice more expensive than similar varieties from Vietnam and Thailand. India has difficulty in competing in the international market.

Mr. Prakash said the country exported 4.5 million tones of non-basmati rice in 1998-99 mainly because the Government had given incentives such as supplying rice of exporters' choice to preferred ports. He said this measure would result in a saving of Rs.1,000 rupees per tones on freight alone. Mr. Prakash said another incentive that could be considered was the sale of non - basmati rice to exporters at cheaper prices from the ware houses of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

"The Government should supply non-basmati rice for exports at Rs.7,000 per tonne exports, right now we are getting rice at Rs.7.500 per tonne exmills," he said. "If the Government gives such incentives then we can export up to five million tonnes of rice annually."

The country's non-basmati rice exports in 1999/2000 (April-March) were about one million tonnes, well short of the earlier trade expectations of 1.7 million tonnes.

Trade officials said non-basmati exports in 2000/2001 could be much lower than one million tonnes. Mr. Prakash said the country could easily sell rice to various regions in Africa, where non-basmati rice was consumed, as it enjoyed freight advantage over big exporters such as Thailand and Vietnam. He said Iraq was also looking for 3,00,000 tonnes of rice but the Indian rice was more expensive compared with the Thai and Vietnamese supplies.