Indian rice exports face threat from Asian peers, including Pakistan

Lack of long term export policy, high costs making Indian rice uncompetitive

Rice exporters continue to face threat from Asian peers, such as Pakistan and Thailand, even as domestic paddy output in 2018-19 kharif season is estimated to grow 2.5 per cent to more than 115 million tonnes.
 
The lack of a long-term rice export policy coupled with successive increase in procurement costs under the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism have made rice exports, especially non-basmati, uncompetitive.
 
Over the past few years, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam have emerged as strong players in the Asian and African regions.
 
India is expected to see a drop in non-basmati rice exports this