India exports 42 lakh tonnes of non-basmati rice since September 2011

NEW DELHI: India has exported nearly 42 lakh tonnes (LT) of non-basmati rice since September last year when the government lifted ban on overseas shipments of the grain.

"A total of 41.80 lakh tonnes of non-basmati rice has been exported from the country as on April 24, 2012. The government is closely monitoring the trend of exports," Food Minister K V Thomas said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The minister said exports of non-basmati rice were allowed on private account under Open General Licence (OGL) from September 9, 2011, after taking into consideration the record production, procurement and comfortable stock position of rice in the central pool as well as in the domestic market.

Thomas further said that prices of non-basmati rice have been stable for over a year. The wholesale price index for rice for March 2012 is 174.9 against 173.3 in September 2011.

"The continued export of non-basmati rice is not likely to have an adverse impact on domestic prices," he said.

The country is estimated to have harvested a record 103.41 million tonnes of rice in the 2011-12 crop year against 95.98 million tonnes in the previous year.

As on April 1 this year, the government had 19.95 million tonnes (MT) of wheat and 33.35 MT of rice in its godowns. It had a storage capacity of 63.8 MT as against the central stock of 53.3 MT. India also exports about 2 MT of basmati rice every year.