Rice export ban clogs ports with 200,000-tonne pileup

Some container-trucks had already left for ports before the government's 20 July notification

- Puja Das

Cargos and containers full of rice are lying at Indian ports, unshipped after the government announced export restrictions with immediate effect last month.

Though most cargos had obtained customs clearance before the directorate general of foreign trade put out the notification banning white rice exports on the evening of 20 July, as much as 200,000 tonnes of the grain are still lying at ports, including 5,000 tonnes at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata.

This rice is stuck in the absence of customs clearance before the government’s notification, half-a-dozen people aware of the matter said.

“Approximately half-a-million tonnes of cargo should be stuck at the ports, not more than that. The reason being people were aware of an impending change in the rice export policy as prices were shooting up for the last one month, creating inflationary fears," said Nitin Gupta, vice president of Olam Agro India Ltd.