Demand for export of white rice started rising in view of huge stock in the central pool

26-Jun-2024 04:08 PM

New Delhi. Official figures show that on June 15, 2024, there was a huge stock of 331.19 lakh tonnes of rice and 257.22 lakh tonnes of paddy in the central pool,

while the purchase of paddy of Rabi and Zaid season is going on in some places. The purchase of new paddy of Kharif season will also start from October 2024. In this way, the central government has sufficient stock of rice to ensure domestic food security.

In view of this, exporters have now started demanding permission for commercial export of non-basmati white (raw) rice and broken rice.

It is known that the export ban on broken rice has been imposed since September 2022 and on white rice since July 2023.

There is also a ban on the export of rice bran extraction since July 2023, which is being demanded to be removed. But the other side of the coin is that the retail and wholesale inflation rate in rice has been running in double digits since last year.

Despite the start of retail sale of Bharat Brand Rice and the availability of rice from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), there has been no significant softening in the domestic market price. In August 2023,

the government imposed a customs duty of 20 percent on the export of non-Basmati Sela rice. Although India exports only Sela rice and Basmati rice, it still remains the largest exporter in the world. However, the total shipment has fallen sharply due to the ban on the export of raw (white) rice.

Exporters say that the stock of rice with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has increased to about three and a half times the minimum required buffer quantity,

so the government will not have any special problem in increasing its supply and availability in the domestic market and it should open the export of broken rice and white rice.