Cheaper rice from China and Thailand has begun eating into India’s traditional markets in Africa. An increase in minimum support price (MSP) for paddy, strengthening the rupee against the dollar has turned the India rice expensive and hurt the shipments of non-basmati rice. The Indian exported non-basmati rice is 5–10 per cent more costly than the rice exports from Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Myanmar. China has begun exporting rice into the markets beginning 2019 and this has led to greater competition for Indian exporters.
The data showed that the Indian shipment more than halved over April–May, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018: it fell from 15.25 lakh tonnes to 7.11 lakh tonnes, amounting to $294 million from $652 million in 2018. It was suggested that some incentives need to be given to Indian rice exporters to ensure rice exports remain competitive. These may include extension of the 5 per cent incentive under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). This incentive was launched for non-basmati rice exporters in November 2018, and it ended in March 2019.