Amira Foods bags $45mn order from Bangladesh

NEW DELHI: Rice processor Amira Foods India on Thursday said it has bagged a $45 million order for supplying 90,000 tonnes rice to Bangladesh.

"We have bagged a $45 million deal to supply 90,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh. The tender is awarded to us by Bangladesh government. We won it by offering the lowest bid," Amira Group's executive director Protik Guha said.

Since India does not allow export of non-basmati rice, the company would source them from countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan to execute the contract, he said.

Rice production in Bangladesh, though its staple food, is around one million tonne less than its annual requirement. The Food and Public Disaster Management Ministry of the Bangladesh government had issued a global tender to source rice to partly meet that gap.

Amira Foods, which exports rice to around 50 countries worldwide, had earlier said that it expects its turnover to go up to Rs 1,500 crore in three years from Rs 1,000 crore in 2009-10. Currently, 70 per cent of its turnover comes from exports.