The Red Sea attacks in Middle East may also hit basmati rice shipments, according to a report by news agency Reuters. The world’s second-largest producer of wheat, rice and sugar, India has restricted exports of these commodities to curb the rising domestic prices.
On the situation in the Red Sea, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “India has always been supportive of the free movement of commercial shipping so that is something that we are interested in. We are, of course, monitoring the developments there. We’re also part of international efforts to ensure free shipping, whether it be piracy or otherwise, India has been involved in it. So we will continue to monitor that…”
The government may consider an alternate route along Africa for shipments of basmati rice if attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group persist, which could lift prices by about 15 per cent to 20 per cent, according to the report.
The alternate route may also affect India’s exports of the long-grain rice to Egypt and Europe.
However, India expects growth in exports of other farm commodities to offset the export deficit this year, said Rajesh Agarwal, an additional secretary in the trade ministry. “If we remove agricultural commodities whose exports are controlled, like wheat and rice, exports are growing by over 4 per cent,” said Agarwal.
“So, despite the shortfall of about $4 billion to $5 billion that we face because of restrictions on sugar, wheat, rice, we should be able to meet last year’s export levels,” he added. Additionally, data from state-run trade body APEDA showed that exports of meat and dairy, cereal preparations, and fruits and vegetables rose between April and November this year.
