Centre's export ban on rice likely to be reversed only if domestic production does not suffer

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

basmati, the aromatic, long-grained rice that has a huge demand in the global market. The winner of the bid, Latiq Ahmed, immediately calls up his manager in a Haryana rice mill and asks him to transfer `4,76,100 to the seller’s bank account. Sadhuram, the commission agent, is thrilled to have clinched a “good deal” and pocketed an instant 2% brokerage fee, `9,522 in this case, from the purchaser. “Two weeks ago, there was a slump in basmati’s demand. Look at this market now. This bid has fetched `4,761 per quintal,” says Bobby Goyal, an agent present at the high-voltage bidding that lasted less than five minutes. “The government has banned the export of non-basmati rice and, here, the basmati prices are going through the roof,” he says. Another variety of basmati paddy, which was auctioned minutes earlier, had fetched a less — `4,071 per quintal. This was the scene that unfolded earlier this week when ET visited the Agricultural Produce Market Committee’s mandi at Narela, one of the biggest grains markets in the country, which auctioned rice and wheat worth `1,470 crore in 2022-23. On July 20, the government banned the export of non-basmati rice. Ahead of crucial state elections, it does not want to risk domestic food security or exacerbate inflation. Export of non-basmati rice, excluding parboiled, rose from 1.3 million metric tonnes (MMT) in pre-pandemic 2019-20 to 6.3 MMT in 2022-23, an almost five-fold jump.Why ban?

India could reconsider ban once global demand falls, says NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand

As the global demand for rice continues to be quite high, there was concern that India’s overall rice exports may surpass 30 MMT this year, impacting availability of the grain in the domestic