The recent controversy about the alleged contamination of rice exported from India might not have much impact on the country’s outbound shipment of the cereal.
 
This is because the European Union (EU), from where the allegation came, accounts for very little of the country’s rice export.
 
The government has stated there is no possibility of genetically modified (GM) substances mixing with the rice exported because their production is prohibited.
 
Experts said if the controversy lingered, it could have an adverse effect on one of the biggest items of India’s agricultural exports.
 
Trade and market sources said India exported annually around 300,000 tonnes of rice (mostly basmati) to Europe. Of that, 170,000 tonnes goes to the UK.
 
This is a fraction of the 4.4-4.6 million tonnes of the basmati rice India exports annually.
 
A few months ago, the Europe