New Delhi NEW DELHI: The central government on Thursday imposed a 20% duty on rice exports amid concerns over price rise following deficient rainfall in major rice producing states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The duty was levied on paddy, bran (brown) rice and semi-milled rice, but not on basmati rice, which accounts for about one-fifth of India’s total rice exports. In 2021-22, India exported more than 21 million tonnes of rice. “The move was on the cards as the area under rice cultivation has declined significantly as compared to last year. So, it looks like we will have less rice production this year. Now that the government is short of wheat and is using rice in the central government’s food programme, there could be pressure on overall supply. This is a pre-emptive measure to ensure availability in the domestic market,” said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda. The official notification said the Center is satisfied that duty should be levied on certain items and such circumstances exist. which makes it necessary to take immediate action.
Economists noted that the monsoon rains were 6% above normal by the end of August and rainfall was substantial during the kharif planting season from July to August, but the spatial distribution of rainfall has been the weakest in a decade.
“About 70% of the grossly sown area received normal rainfall similar to the 2009 dry year. At the end of the three months of the season, 14% and 16% of the grossly sown area received deficit and surplus rainfall, respectively. As of September 2 The kharif acreage stood at 105.3 million hectares, down 3% from the year-ago period.Besides deficient rainfall in the eastern states, additional rains also contributed to jowar, tur, moong and gram, said Mahindra & Mahindra chief economist Sachchidanand Shukla. adversely affected the area under groundnut.
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