By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s official agency to monitor exports Wednesday denied any adverse impact on basmati rice export, while setting Rs.269 billion export target for agricultural and processed food products in 2008-09 against Rs.243.84 billion in the last fiscal.
“As per our assessment, there is no adverse impact on the export of basmati rice,” said Asit Tripathy, chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), here.
In an effort to check price rise, the government in March this year fixed $1,200 against $1,000 per tonne as the minimum export price (MEP) for basmati rice.
Tripathy, who spoke to IANS on the sideline of a press conference about an official event to felicitate leading exporters, said the export of basmati would remain as usual in the current fiscal.
India exports over 80 percent of 1.6 million tonnes of basmati rice the country produces annually. The export of basmati rice was at 1.045 million tonnes, worth Rs.27.92 billion in 2006-07.
Apeda monitors the export of non-scheduled products such as basmati rice, wheat and coarse grains in addition to the schedule products such as fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
“The export target of Rs.26,900 crore (Rs.269 billion) for the current fiscal is quite feasible. Exports will touch Rs.30,000 crore (Rs.300 billion) in 2009-10,” said Tripathy.
“There is a constant increase in the demand of Indian products across the world. Apeda is making concerted efforts like streamlining marketing network and quality control to tap the global market,” added Tripathy.
He said India was currently exporting agricultural and processed food products including meat, basmati rice, pickles, ground nuts to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Indonesia and Malaysia.
“Efforts are on to expand our export base. A market facilitation centre (MCF) has been set up in the Netherlands to overcome issues Indian exporters face in the European market,” he said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath May 30 will give away the Apeda annual export awards here.