The government’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) in its latest report has showed that India’s shipment of basmati declined by around 7% to 1.17 million tonnes (MT) for the April-June period, first three months of the financial year, from 1.26 MT in the same period last year.
The fall in export during June quarter was due to default by Iranian importers on some Indian basmati rice brands under bilateral deals. The government has cautioned exporters to avoid private transactions with Iranian importers. Iran is the largest importer of India’s branded and unbranded aromatic rice (it took a third of all its export in the June quarter).
Apeda has advised exporters not to register contracts for export of basmati or make arrangement for payment before applying to it in this regard. Exports should be against formal orders which include quality specifications and a mechanism for resolution of disputes.