'Only 1 bag per family': Telugu NRIs in US severely hit after India bans non-basmati rice export

Hyderabad: Only 1 bag per family. These are the boards put up in Indian grocery stores in the United States.

This comes after the Indian government banned exports of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supply and keep retail prices under check during the upcoming festive season.

Large queues were seen at the grocery stores in the US with the citizens, especially Indians, rushing to stock the non-basmati white rice. Major destinations of India's non-basmati white rice exports include Thailand, Italy, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the USA.

A video posted by one of the Indian in Dallas shows 1 bag rice is sold for 50 dollars.

One bag of Sona Masoori white rice is 20 LB (around 10 kg) and costs around 15-16 dollars. One LB White Basmati rice costs 19.99 dollars in the USA. Taking this as an advantage, some of the Indian stores after getting this news immediately started charging 25-26 dollars for a rice bag.

Non-basmati white rice constitutes about 25 percent of the total rice exported from the country. The prohibition on the export of non-basmati white rice will lead to a lowering of prices for the consumers in the country.

One bag per family

According to a grocery owner in Chicago, "We are seeing Telugu citizens rushing to the stores and getting any kind of rice, We are out of stock now. Earlier, consumers used to pick particular brands of rice, but now thny are just grabbing any rice."

According to the owners of Indian grocery markets in the USA, they have seen people taking more than 10 bags as soon as the announcement was made. So they have restricted only one bag per family so that the supply can be given to every Indian.

How can Indians live without rice?

`How can Indian rice lovers live in such a crisis”’ questions Sowjanya, a resident in New York. "1 rice bag per family. This is something I thought I would never see. How is 1 bag sufficient for a rice lover like me?"

Speaking to News Meter, Vasundhara, an Indian in Chicago, said: "Though being a working day on Friday, we had to take leave from work and rush to the stores. We got the news through our Whatsapp groups and we immediately rushed to the store. There were huge queues and I managed to get only one bag of rice."

Another resident in Chicago said the situation has come when they have to shift to alternative food like salads, and burgers.

"We Indians cannot live without having at least one meal with rice. Now, it is like we have to change the meal styles. I grabbed any kind of rice I found in the store on Friday morning, and managed to get basmati rice bags through Amazon" said Rajesh, a resident of Texas.

Next comes the festival season

With the festival season ahead of Sravana Masam, many Telugu families are worrying if this crisis will affect the festivals. "The auspicious days start next month with Varalakhshmi Vratam, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, and many more. Every Friday, we prepare a special dish with rice. Now, it seems like we have to go for alternative prasadam," said Indira, a resident of Chicago.

Surprisingly, Geeta, a resident of Visakhapatnam who will be traveling to the US for her daughter's delivery, decided to take a good amount of rice with her. "My daughter is six months pregnant now, and she needs to be healthy. I decided to pack some rice in my luggage. For many Indian mothers, rice is a major source of nutrition. Though the current youth would shift to alternative foods, we cannot immediately accept the fact and adjust," said Geeta.

What did the officials say?

According to the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), the export policy of non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed)...is amended from free to prohibited.

The export policy of Non-Basmati White Rice was amended to ensure adequate domestic availability at reasonable prices. To ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the domestic market and to allay the rise in local prices, the government has amended the export policy from 'Free with the export duty of 20%' to 'Prohibited' with immediate effect.

"The domestic prices of rice are on an increasing trend. The retail prices have increased by 11.5 percent over a year and 3 percent over the past month," the statement said. An export duty of 20 percent on non-basmati white rice was imposed on September 8, 2022, to lower the price as well as ensure availability in the domestic market.

However, the export of this variety increased to 42.12 lakh tonnes in the September-March period of 2022-23 from 33.66 lakh tonnes during the September-March period of the previous fiscal.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, about 15.54 lakh tonnes of white rice was exported against only 11.55 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, which means an increase of 35 percent.

"This sharp increase in exports can be ascribed to high international prices due to geopolitical scenario, El Nino sentiments and extreme climatic conditions in other rice-producing countries, etc.," the statement said.

As per the commerce ministry data, India's total exports of basmati rice stood at USD 4.8 billion in 2022-23, while in volume terms it was at 45.6 lakh tonnes. Similarly, exports of non-basmati stood at USD 6.36 billion in the last fiscal. In volume terms, it was 177.9 lakh tonnes.

As per the DGFT notification, the consignments of this variety of rice will be allowed to be exported under certain conditions.

The export will also be allowed based on permission granted by the government to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their governments, it added.

The DGFT also said that exports are permitted for those consignments where the shipping bill is filed, vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored in Indian ports, and their rotation number has been allocated before this notification. "The approval of loading in such vessels will be issued only after confirmation by the concerned port authorities regarding anchoring/berthing of the ship for loading of non-basmati rice before the notification," it said.

The exports are also allowed where the consignment has been handed over to the customs before this notification and is registered in their system.