Chandigarh, November 13:
Haryana has emerged as the number one choice for China to source non-basmati rice after Beijing opened its trade with India this year by importing 100 tonnes of non-basmati rice recently.
Indian exporters are working towards meeting the export target of another 500 tonnes in immediate future, with a major share coming from the northern state.
Total rice suppliers approved by the Chinese in the northern states are 20, including Haryana, which tops the lot with 12 mills. Punjab is the second largest state in terms of non-basmati exports to China with four mills followed by Uttar Pradesh with two and Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir one each. Other four mills are located in different parts of the country — two in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Maharashtra and Telangana.
Haryana and Punjab mills are instant favourite of the Chinese traders because of their state-of-the-art technology right from processing to storage.
“The northern region, especially Punjab and Haryana, has been a major supplier of basmati internationally. Over the years, these millers have made significant investments in modernising their facilities to meet stringent norms of importing countries. They have, therefore, an edge over other states even in non-basmati exports,” All India Rice Exporters Association president Vijay Setia said.
The Chinese opportunity has come after several years and it will boost exports, he said. Rice mills based in southern parts of the country are exporting non-basmati rice to African countries in large quantities, he added.
Though in 2016 China had agreed to import from 14 Indian rice exporters, the actual exports could not take place due to technical issues, he said.
The first consignment of 100 tonne non-basmati rice was shipped to China from Nagpur in September this year. Two Indian companies, namely Sukhbir Agro Energy and Pattabhi Agro Foods, have bagged export orders of 600 tonnes of non-basmati rice from China, a government source said.
Protik Guha, executive director, Sukhbir Agro Energy said, “China, the largest producer and importer of rice, buys over 5 million tonnes of the cereal per annum mainly from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan due to geopolitical reasons. However, it is shifting focus to India now. Already, we have bagged order and discussions are still on with the buyers.” There is a potential of exporting two million tonnes of rice, he added.
This year, officials from China inspected rice mills that are capable of exporting non-basmati rice to China and 24 rice mills and processing units were registered for export to China.
