Following the panic buying of rice from departmental stores in the US after India announced a ban on the export of non-basmati rice, several stores in the country have put a limit on the number of rice bags customers can buy. Many customers also reported empty shelves at the stores when they visited to buy rice.
"Only one rice bag per family" read notices put up by multiple stores.
Several NRIs (non-residential Indians) also shared pictures of empty shelves at the stores -- possibly an outcome of panic buying fuelled by fears and misinformation of a complete ban on rice exports by India.
Earlier videos circulating on social media showed NRIs queueing up outside grocery and departmental stores to buy rice while others climb shelves and pull away heavy bags of rice.
There are also fears of hoarding rice and selling it in online forums for a much higher price. "So all the desi stores are out of Indian rice. Every NRI family has bought 10-15 bags of rice because India has blocked the export of “non-basmati” rice. Therefore high IQ NRIs have hoarded 100-200 kg of basmati rice per family. And few are now selling it on Facebook marketplace," commented Niks (@niks_1985).
On Thursday, the Food Ministry said in a statement that the ban on the export of non-Basmati rice would "ensure adequate availability" and "allay the rise in prices in the domestic market". It cited 11.5 percent increase in retail prices over 12 months and that global demand saw Indian exports of non-basmati white rice jump 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.
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