India's cereals exports see sharp jump amid pandemic
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, FEB 11, 2021: LOGISTICAL challenges notwithstanding, India's exports of rice, wheat and coarse cereals witnessed a sharp jump in the April-December period of the ongoing financial year, said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
As per the data for the first three quarters of 2020-21, the exports of cereals rose to Rs. 49,832 crore from Rs. 32,591 crore from the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.
"The exports of cereals witnessed a rise of 52.90 per cent in rupee term and 45.81 per cent in US dollar term," said the ministry.
The total share of value of cereal exports was 48.61 per cent in rupee term in the export basket of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA) scheduled products.
The export of basmati rice grew 5.31 per cent to Rs. 22,038 crore against Rs. 20,926 crore reported during the same period in the previous year. Major destinations for its export are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and the Euro zone.
In contrast, the non-basmati variety of rice witnessed an "impressive spike," said the ministry. During the first three quarters of 2020-21, it grew 122.61 per cent and stood at Rs. 22,856 crore compared to Rs. 10,268 crore in the 2019-20 period.
The share of export of non-basmati rice is 22.32 per cent in the total export of APEDA products, and it is shipped to Nepal, Benin, the UAE, Somalia, Guinea and many other countries in Asia, Europe and the United States.
The sharp spike in rice exports especially during a phase where globally the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply changes of many commodities, has been attributed to the government taking prompt measures to ensure exports of rice while taking all the required safety precautions.
"We took several measures in terms of ensuring safety and hygiene because of the operational and health challenges posed by COVID-19, while ensuring that rice exports continue uninterrupted," said Mr Madhaiyaan Angamuthu, Chairman of APEDA.
Along with rice, the export of wheat also rose 456.41 per cent to Rs. 1,870 crore against Rs. 336 crore in the previous fiscal, while outbound coarse cereals like millet and maize also saw a significant 189.09 per cent spike in April-December 2020. Their exports touched Rs. 3,067 crore in the ongoing fiscal, compared to Rs. 1,061 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year.