After a gap of three years, basmati rice exports witnessed a rebound with the first quarter of the current fiscal year, registering 32 per cent growth, rating agency ICRA said on Thursday.
While the 25 per cent increase was due to better price realisation, the rest was due to increase in volumes, ICRA said in a release.
The rating agency said it expects the total volume of basmati exports from the country to be 4.1 million tonnes (mt) in the current fiscal, which is an increase of 4 per cent over the previous year.
Export value, on the other hand, is expected to be around ₹26,000 crore in 2017-18 — up 21 per cent from the previous financial year.
Basmati exports have been encouraging, particularly because of demand from Iran, which accounted for 40 per cent of exports, said Deepak Jotwani, ICRA assistant VP.
Iran factor“However, from August 2017, Iran has again discontinued importing basmati rice from India. Resumption of imports by Iran, which is anticipated around the procurement season, would be critical for the overall demand for basmati rice. Any delays in the same could dampen paddy procurement in the upcoming season as well as subdue the exports outlook for the second half of the current fiscal and next financial year,” Jotwani said.
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