Lanka may ask India to reduce MEP of rice

Sri Lanka, which has suffered damage to its paddy crop, is seeking 1,00,000 tonnes of rice from India even as the latter has imposed stringent restrictions on exports of the foodgrain.

Sri Lankan importers want President Mahinda Rajapaksa to ask New Delhi to reduce the minimum export price of rice to enable its imports.

The island country has been reeling under the impact of the damage to the paddy crop due to heavy rain in the growing area during the last fortnight.

In November 2007, India acceded to the request of Rajapaksa and supplied 6,000 tonnes of rice on an urgent basis to help the Island nation control spiralling prices.

The Indian government, confronted with one of the highest rates of inflation, wants to ensure adequate supplies of essential commodities, including non-basmati rice, and has raised its minimum export price of non-basmati rice to $1,000 a tonne from $650 a tonne.

According to an essential commodity importing body, the demand for rice imports from India was unforeseen as Sri Lanka was heading for bumper paddy production.

"But, the sudden heavy rain during the last 20 days has damaged over 15,000 hectares of paddy crop in Sri Lanka's growing areas," it said.

K Palaniandy, president of the Old Moor Street Traders Association, told PTI that they have written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa urging him to impress upon New Delhi to bring down the minimum rice export price to facilitate imports from India.

"We write to request you to use your good offices with the Indian authorities and have this discriminatory floor price removed with immediate effect," the letter said.

Sri Lanka imported over 70,000 tonnes of rice from India in 2007.