India’s exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by more than 11% year-on-year to $17.77 billion during April-December of the current financial year, after the government removed most of the restrictions on rice shipments.
According to data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), rice exports in the first nine months of FY25 saw a sharp increase of over 19% to $8.72 billion compared to $6.44 billion in the same period last fiscal.
By September last year, the government removed virtually all restrictions, including the minimum export price and export duties, on basmati and non-basmati rice exports.
Exporters say that rice exports in the entire FY25 may see an increase of 10% because of a robust global demand. In FY24, India shipped rice worth $10.41 billion, a decline of 6.5% on year, as shipments were hampered because of restrictions that were imposed to improve domestic supplies. Officials said that, at present, there is a ban on exports of broken rice.
“With an export target of 5 million tonne in the current fiscal, India has outpaced its closest competitor, Pakistan, which manages less than one million tonne annually,” Ranjit Singh Jossan, MD, Jossan Grains, a leading exporter of basmati rice in Punjab, told FE. Exporters say that despite issues pertaining to settlement of payment for the shipments to Iran, the global demand for basmati rice continues to be robust.
Trade sources say India’s dominance in global rice trade is likely to be restored with a spike in shipments, especially to Africa and south-east Asian countries. India has been the largest exporter of rice since last decade.
Exports of buffalo meat, dairy and poultry products rose by over 10% on year to $3.64 billion during April-December compared to $3.3 billion in the same period of FY24.
Officials said that in the past decade, there has been a rise in demand for the Indian bovine meat across the globe due to its quality and nutrient value as the buffalo meat is processed and exported as per the World Organization for Animal Health guidelines for any risk mitigation.
The shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables in the first nine months of FY25 increased by over 5% to $2.65 billion, and cereals preparation by more than 10% to $2.03 billion.
The agricultural and processed food products export development authority (APEDA) has set an export target of $26.56 billion for FY25. The share of exports of products under the APEDA basket is around 51% in the total shipment of agri-produce. The rest of the agricultural product exports include marine, tobacco, coffee, and tea.
