India's Rice Exports Could Fall by 20 Percent in FY20: Report

India's rice exports could witness 20% decline this fiscal, owing to heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle-East & tighter trade rules, according to a report.

A report by the US-based trade finance company, Drip Capital says that rice export has witnessed a significant decline all over the world due to heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which is one of the biggest export market.

Following this, rice exports’ in India is also expected to go down by 18 to 20% in 2019-20, as per the report.

Pushkar Mukewar, Drip Capital co-founder & co-CEO said that "Exports so far are looking bleak with Iran - the biggest export market, seeing a 22% fall in shipments. Other export markets such as the UAE (33%), Nepal (23%), Yemen (2%), Senegal (90%) & Bangladesh (94%) have also seen a drop in rice shipments from India".

He added that exports to certain countries defied the broader trend & registered an increase. Saudi Arabia witnessed a 4% increase, Iraq 10%, Benin 8% and the US 4%.

The report also revealed that Haryana is the leading basmati rice exporting state in India with an annual growth of 3% between FY16 to FY19. It has shipped USD 2,410 million in financial year 2019 alone.

The second largest exporting state with shipments of USD 1,106 million in 2019 is, Gujarat. Other key contributing states include West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, according to report.