India Rice Export: After the removal of restrictions imposed by the government on exports, there has been a tremendous increase in the export of rice from India to countries around the world. In 2025, India’s rice export increased by 19.4 percent to the second highest level ever. Increased supplies of rice from India, the world’s biggest exporter, reduced shipments from rivals such as Thailand and Vietnam.

Why was export banned?

After the increase in exports from India, the price of rice in Asia has declined, reaching its lowest level in the last ten years. This has made rice affordable in many other regions, such as Africa, where consumer incomes are low. It is being told that after the ban imposed on exports by the government was lifted in March, there has been a rise in shipments from India.

Let us tell you that the Central Government had banned the export of non-Basmati white rice to ensure adequate supply of rice in the country and to keep the price under control. However, India later lifted the final restrictions on exports imposed in 2022 and 2023 after supplies improved due to record production due to heavy monsoon rains.

Rice production increased fearlessly

In this sequence, exports increased to 21.55 million metric tons in 2025, which was 18.05 million in 2024 and reached close to the record of 22.3 million tons in 2022. Shipments of non-Basmati rice increased by 25 percent to 15.15 million tonnes, while exports of Basmati rice jumped 8 percent to a record 6.4 million tonnes.

Export of non-Basmati rice increased rapidly to Bangladesh, Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Djibouti. Meanwhile, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Britain increased purchases of premium basmati rice this year, a government official told Reuters. India generally exports more rice than the total exports of the three largest exporters of rice – Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan.

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India Rice Export to Iran: India exports rice on a large scale. Rice is exported from India to 165 countries around the world. Of these, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cameroon, Papua New Guinea, Ivory Coast, African country Benin buy non-Basmati grazing from India.

At the same time, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia buy premium Basmati rice from India. Meanwhile, India is facing problems in exporting premium Basmati rice to Iran as 45 million tonnes of rice is exported in global trade. Of these, India’s share alone is 22 million tonnes. These include both Basmati and non-Basmati rice.

India faced these difficulties

Meanwhile, India is facing problems in exporting premium Basmati rice to Iran because the government here has withdrawn the subsidy given on import of food items. Due to this, Indian exporters have stopped their shipments.

According to Hindustan Times report, consignments worth at least Rs 2000 crore are currently stuck at international ports, awaiting clearance from Iran. It is being told that after the Iranian currency Rial reached a record low against the US dollar, the Iranian government has stopped the exchange rate subsidy given on the import of food items.

Loss to exports due to removal of subsidy

Withdrawal of subsidies hurts exporters as they have to pay full taxes and duties on their products. This increases costs, making goods more expensive for domestic consumers. Removal of subsidy directly affects the profits of exporters and sometimes they lag behind exporters from other countries. This is the reason why due to American sanctions, this decision of Iran has affected the producers and processors of Punjab and Haryana, the main Basmati growing states of India.

Why did the Iranian government take this decision?

The government of Iran has decided that now the subsidy money will be deposited directly into the accounts of the citizens of the country so that they can buy food items as per their needs. The government wants that the benefits of subsidy should reach the people directly. In this connection, Iran has announced to give a subsidy of Rs 600-600 to each of its citizens for the next 4 months.

The government believes that despite spending billions of rupees on the subsidized exchange rate, the common people of the country are not getting its benefit, people are struggling with rising inflation. The benefits of import subsidies are not reaching the consumers because the subsidized exchange rates are being used by many sectors to arbitrarily fix the prices of imported goods. Due to this black marketing is increasing.

Wrinkles on the forehead of Indian exporters

Ranjit Singh Joson, vice-president of the Punjab Rice Millers Association, told Hindustan Times, “Due to the sharp fall of the Iranian rial against the US dollar, which has reached a record low, the Iranian government has refused to continue the subsidies it has been providing for imports of food items for many years. This is making exporters hesitant to continue trade.”

Trade with Iran was earlier done through the barter system (through exchange of goods) as banking channels were limited due to the sanctions imposed by the US. That system ended when India stopped importing Iranian oil. Joson said, “Despite this, Iran continued to import food products like tea, basmati rice and medicines from India, but now it seems that these imports are also being cut.”

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IREF Budget Demands 2026: The Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) on Tuesday urged the government to provide tax incentives, interest subsidy and freight support in the upcoming 2026-27 budget. So that the competitiveness of this sector can be strengthened while removing sustainability concerns.

The trade organization demanded from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman four percent interest subsidy on export credit, three percent support for road and rail freight and timely distribution of duty waiver schemes.

demand for iref

IREF President Prem Garg said in a memorandum sent to the Finance Minister, these measures will directly reduce the cost of exporters. Will promote stability and encourage transportation of high value goods. He said that India’s share in global rice trade is about 40 percent. About 2.01 crore tonnes of rice was exported to more than 170 countries in the financial year 2024-25.

Garg further said that rice export remains a strategic economic asset. Which supports farmers’ income, rural employment and foreign markets. He said that continued leadership in this key food item enhances India’s economic strength and diplomatic influence. Garg also said that this sector, however, faces many challenges.

These include depletion of ground water in major paddy producing areas, high cost of procurement and storage and market instability. He said, the Union Budget can improve sustainability and farmers’ outcomes while strengthening competitiveness through targeted fiscal and supportive measures.

subsidy demanded

Regarding working capital, IREF demanded four percent interest subsidy on export credit, giving priority to small and medium enterprise rice exporters. This reduces financing costs, the association said. Cash flow is eased and price competitiveness improves.

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India’s Rice Export: China has been ahead for a long time in terms of large-scale cultivation of rice and its export, but now India has ended its years-old dominance and has come to the first place. India’s share in rice cultivation worldwide is more than 28 percent.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has also recognized this achievement of India. In its December 2025 report, USDA said that rice production in India has reached 152 million metric tons, while China’s production is 146 million metric tons. With this, India has become the ‘king of rice’ in the world.

Taiwan had helped India

Rice has been grown and eaten in India since ancient times. Today whenever it comes to rice production, India’s name often comes first. There are about 123,000 varieties of rice in the world, of which about 60,000 are found in India. However, the contribution of China’s enemy Taiwan in this cannot be denied.

In the 60s, when India was facing food crisis, Taiwan came forward to help India. It first gave its variety of paddy Taichung Native-1 (TN1- Taichung Native-1) to India. After this, in 1968, the second variety IR-8 Iri was given. Then the agricultural scientists of the country started hybridizing with these species of rice. Gradually, India became self-sufficient in rice production. There are about 123,000 varieties of rice in the world, of which about 60,000 are found in India.

Rice became a weapon of foreign policy

Well-known agronomist Dr. Sudhanshu Singh says that India’s emergence as the world’s largest rice producer is a big achievement. Indian rice is exported to 172 countries and rice has also become an important weapon of India’s foreign policy.

In 2024-25, India exported agricultural products worth a record Rs 450,840 crore, in which rice had the highest share at about 24 percent. India earned foreign exchange worth Rs 105,720 crore in a year by exporting Basmati and non-Basmati rice. This shows the importance of rice for the Indian economy.

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