Covid-19 pandemic expands the appetite for India\'s basmati exports

Covid-19 pandemic expands the appetite for India's basmati exports

Exporters saw an unexpected demand surge as countries in West Asia rushed to build buffer stocks. But procedural problems could make it difficult to sustain the momentum

Topics
Coronavirus | Basmati rice | India rice exports

Kunal Bose  |  Kolkata 

Covid-19 has infected the outlook for most businesses, including those of exporters. Basmati exporters, however, are a unique exception.

In fact, the logistical disruptions linked to surface and sea transportation following the outbreak of the virus helped basmati exporters marginally exceed the record 2018-19 exports of 4.41 million tonnes to end 2019-20 with 4.45 million tonnes. This is no small gain considering that back in October, exports of the long grain aromatic basmati rice were down 10 per cent in the first seven months of 2019-20. This improvement was in spite of supply ...
First Published: Fri, August 07 2020. 06:05 IST