New Delhi, July 7
To ensure that no spurious quantity is exported and the rates fetched are in line with the premium that brown basmati rice commands the worldwide, the government has decided to revise the minimum price range for export of the commodity.
The revision assumes significance, specially as it comes close on the heels of European Union proposing to change its rice import regime under which India enjoys a duty abatement of 250 European currency units.
Under the revised price advisory effective from this month, issued by the Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority
(APEDA), the free on board (FoB) price for Indian traditional brown basmati will be $ 545 a
tonne, up from $ 515 per tonne with a range of `plus or minus’ 5 per cent.
For the second category of Indian basmati rice, which includes pusa and bauni basmati, the price advisory has been increased to $ 490 a tonne from $ 465
FoB, again with a range of `plus or minus’ 5 per cent.
According to reports, the move will strengthen India’s position during negotiations with the EU which has proposed to introduce tariff rate quotas
(TRQ) for rice imports which will deprive India of the duty abatement and make its exports stagnant.
The minimum price seeks to address the EU concerns by preventing lower quality blended basmati called ‘sharbati’ from being exported and convince the region that the TRQ regime must be kept in abeyance.
