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Recently, the Ministry of Finance notified the slapping of a 20% duty on exports of rice “other than parboiled and basmati rice” with effect from September 9.
- Also, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry imposed a blanket ban on broken rice exports.
Restrictions that have been put on rice exports
- There are four categories of rice exports.
- Out of these, exports in the case of two – basmati rice and parboiled non-basmati rice –are still freely allowed.
- The curbs are only for the other two: raw (white) and broken non-basmati rice.
- The curbs announced will affect just under half of India’s rice exports in terms of quantity and over a third by value.
Rationale Behind Government Ban of the Export
- The possibility of India’s rice production declining significantly because of deficient monsoon rainfall in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal.
- The stocks for rice, at 40.99 mt, was quite comfortable, but the government is worried about their depletion in the event of a sub-par kharif harvest.
- This is more so, given the political pressure to continue the free-foodgrains scheme (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana) beyond September.
- India has a 40% share of the world’s total rice exports.
Parboiled and Broken Rice
- Paddy typically has 20-21% husk (the inedible covering of the grain) and 10-11% bran (the brown outer layer of the edible kernel).
- What remains after removal of the husk and bran is the white raw rice that constitutes 68-69% of paddy.
- Parboiling is a process where the paddy is soaked in water, steamed and dried while retaining its outer husk.
- It results in the rice becoming harder with less breakage on milling.
- The parboiled rice exported from India contains 5-15% broken grains.
- In raw rice, the brokens are normally up to 25%.
- It is the rice having 100% brokens whose exports have been prohibited.
Source: IE
