Delays in payment settlement for exports to Iran, India?s biggest destination for basmati rice, the country?s aromatic rice exports has declined during last fiscal compared with the previous year.

While the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) is yet to work out actual shipments of basmati rice during 2010-11, trade sources have confirmed that exports have declined by more than 70,000 tonne.

According to Apeda figures, exports of the premium aromatic rice increased by close to 35% to 2.2 million tonne in 2009-10 from 1.6 million tonne in 2008-09. In value terms, exports crossed R12,000 crore in last fiscal against R9,476 crore achieved in 2008-09.

Trades sources have confirmed to FE that besides decline volume of basmati rice exports, the value realisation would be lower.

?Slowing down of payment from Iran and inventories from the last fiscal mainly have resulted in fall in exports during last fiscal,? said Vijay Setia, president, All India Rice Exporters? Association.

To make up, Setia has urged the government to liberalise exports of premium quality non-basmati rice exports, which was banned in 2008. The government in February had allowed exports of three varieties of non-basmati rice, mostly grown in southern states. Exports up to 1.5 lakh tonne of non-basmati rice varieties Ponni, Rosematta and Sona Masuri, which are grown in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, were allowed after close to three years. However, the exports are subjected to a minimum export price of $850 per tonne. Before the ban, the country used to export non-basmati rice worth R8,000 crore annually.

The international sanctions on Iran have hit Indian basmati rice exporters. Payments from Iran have slowed because of stoppage of transactions in dollars.

As FE reported last month, basmati rice exports, which was to the tune of R10,838 crore during first eight months of 2009-10, declined by 12.27% in value terms during the same period of 2010-11.

?We have received reports of basmati rice exports picking up during last two months. Exports started on a slower pace as there was huge inventories with importers from the previous year?s stocks,? Asit Tripathy, chairman, Apeda had said.

Rice exports to Iran and Saudi Arabia constitute close to 60% of the total rice exports.