INVC NEWS
New Delhi – The central government has decided to abolish the minimum export price from non-basmati white rice. Along with this, it has also been decided to abolish the 10 percent export duty on parboiled rice. These decisions were taken in the meeting of the high level ministerial panel. Soon a notification will be issued by the central government in this regard. It is believed that after this decision of the government, the export of rice from India in the international market will increase further.
The government had fixed a minimum export price (MEP) of $ 490 per tonne for the export of non-basmati white rice. Similarly, 10 percent export duty was imposed on parboiled rice. Due to this, the price of Indian rice in the international market had become higher than the average price, due to which rice exporters were facing losses. Only last week, representatives of the Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) met Union Minister Piyush Goyal and demanded the abolition of the minimum export price (MEP) fixed for non-basmati white rice and the removal of export duty on parboiled rice.
IREF says that currently there is a huge stock of 235 lakh tonnes of rice in the country under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). Apart from this, 275 lakh tonnes of additional rice is expected to come into the market this season. In this way, a huge stock of rice will be accumulated in the country. In such a situation, rice producing farmers and rice traders can get relief only when they get a chance to work freely for export of rice in the international market.
In the memorandum given by IREF to Union Minister Piyush Goyal, it was also said that the price of rice in the international market has continuously declined. On the other hand, due to the obligation of minimum export price and export duty, Indian rice has become comparatively expensive in the international market. Success on the export front can only be achieved by offering rice at a competitive price in the international market. Keeping these things in mind, IREF had demanded from the Central Government to abolish the minimum export price and 10 percent export duty.
