Basmati Export Will Pick Up This Year By 16 Per Cent

"There has been a major shift in the basmati consuming population from the traditional Middle East and United Kingdom markets to newer ones like the United States, France and Australia. This factor is likely to increase sales by 16 per cent at seven lakh tonne this year," Gurnam Arora, president of the All-India Rice Exporters' Association (AIREA), said.

He said this would be a one-lakh-tonne increase over last year's export of six lakh tonne.

"For the past two years, exports in basmati have been stagnant as the international prices were very low while our domestic prices were high, making our rice more expensive," he said.

 

The high minimum support price (MSP) had pulled up domestic prices, making the country uncompetitive in the international markets, Arora said, adding that this year international prices had firmed up and that might give the needed boost to basmati exports. Arora said exports to the US might touch 3,000 tonne this year.

Today we find an Indian restaurant in almost every city across the globe and now there is a demand for basmati even in the African nations, Arora said.

On competition from other countries, he said: "India faces competition from Pakistan, but this year production in that has fallen down, and, therefore, their quantity is also likely to fall."

Arora said sales in the domestic market were also likely to increase as more and more Indian consumers were taking to basmati.

Today, in the middle and upper middle class society, basmati was consumed once every week and this trend would push up the sales, he said.

"The domestic market for basmati is also expanding to the eastern and southern areas and this year the domestic turnover might be around Rs 150 crore," Arora added.