Centre rubbishes talk of ban on Basmati exports

The Centre today emphatically clarified that there is no truth in the rumour that it was banning exports of Basmati.

In a statement, it said that as per the extant policy, the export of Basmati rice is allowed subject to registration of contracts with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

It further stated that there is no change in the policy and exports of Basmati rice are continuing unabated.

It said that during the period between April and August 2015, exports of Basmati rice had grown by 16.93 percent in quantity terms as compared to the corresponding period during the previous year.

In view of softening of commodity prices, the realization of Basmati rice has gone down as has happened with many other commodities.

However, all steps are being taken to explore more markets and promote retail packs to improve the realisation for Basmati rice.

It is expected that a good flow of export orders is likely and the government also expects the present trend of growth in export of Basmati rice to continue.