Exporter companies' share price jumps after MEP for Basmati rice ends

17-Sep-2024 11:10 AM

New Delhi. After the Union Commerce Ministry issued a circular on September 13 announcing the abolition of the minimum export price (MEP) for Basmati rice, a huge jump is being seen in the share price of major exporter companies.

These companies also include 'KRBL Limited' whose share price rose by 7.7 percent to Rs 327.5 in the past day.

Apart from this, the share prices of companies like LT Foods Limited, GRM Overseas Limited and Kohinoor Foods Limited also increased.

It is worth mentioning that despite the ban on commercial export of 100 percent broken rice and non-Basmati white rice and imposition of 20 percent export duty on non-Basmati Sela rice and fixing a high minimum export price for Basmati rice, India remains the largest exporter of rice in the world. However, the total export of rice has come down from 222 lakh tonnes in the financial year 2022-23 to 157 lakh tonnes in 2023-24.

Export control and customs duty are still in force, but the MEP of Basmati rice has been abolished. This decision has come into effect with immediate effect. It is worth noting that the government had fixed the minimum export price of $ 1200 per tonne for Basmati rice in August 2023, which was reduced to $ 950 per tonne in October 2025. In view of the strong demand of exporters and the interests of the producers of Basmati rice, the government has now withdrawn the MEP. This will help the exporting companies to increase the export of Basmati rice.

However, the Ministry of Commerce has directed its subordinate body-APEDA to keep a close watch on the entire situation and adopt a transparent process so that the exporters cannot contract its export at an unviable price.