Iran yet to issue fresh orders for rice imports: APEDA

Agri-export promotion body APEDA said Iranian government has not yet resumed issuing fresh orders for rice imports this year amid India sitting on a huge stock of basmati rice. Iran, the biggest destination for the aromatic and long- grained rice from India, has not officially banned rice imports, however, in October 2014, it had suspended fresh orders due to surplus stocks. "At present, basmati rice is being exported against the permits issued prior to October 2014. There is no official communication from the Iran government that it has resumed fresh orders. Our embassy is seized of the matter," said A K Gupta, Director, Basmati Export Development Foundation, APEDA. Iran had temporarily stopped issuing fresh import permits as it had huge carry over stocks accumulated before imposition of the US sanctions, he told PTI.

All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) Executive Director R Sundaresan also said there is no official word on reports that Iran government has lifted import curbs on rice. "We spoke to Iran embassy officials on this issue, they said there is no such development," he said. Noida-based rice exporter KRBL Ltd Chairman Anil Mittal said if Iran starts approving new rice import contracts it would boost domestic prices of basmati rice, which have fallen sharply in the wake of lower demand and excess output.

India has exported 3 lakh tonnes of basmati rice to Iran in the April-August period of the 2015-16 fiscal, against 3.7 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, as per APEDA data. Basmati rice output in the country has risen to 8.7 million tonnes in 2014-15 compared with 6.1 million tonnes in the previous year. Iran's annual consumption of rice is estimated at around three million tonnes.

Around 2 million tonnes is produced in the country while the rest is imported from India.