Basmati rice export contracts have dipped by 10 per cent to 24.41 lakh tonne in the first ten months of the current fiscal from a year-ago, on account of sluggish demand especially during April-July of 2010.

According to the government’s agri—trade promotion body Apeda, traders have registered contracts for basmati rice exports for 24.41 lakh tonnes during April—January of the 2010-11 fiscal, against 27 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

“There was lower demand for basmati rice especially for four months (April-July) as importing countries had huge stock of 2010,” a senior official with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) told PTI.

During the April-July period of 2010-11 fiscal, export orders of 9.27 lakh tonnes of basmati rice were contracted, against 13.21 lakh tonnes during the same period of last year, he said.

Basmati rice shipments have been contracted at an average price of $ 1,075 per tonne so far, which is higher than the minimum export price of $ 900 per tonne, the Apeda said.

The official however said that India’s total basmati rice exports in the entire 2010-11 fiscal is unlikely to be lower than last year.

In 2009-10 fiscal, India had shipped 20.16 lakh tonnes of basmati rice mainly to the UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Europe and the US, according to the official data.

It is mandatory for traders to register export contracts for basmati rice with Apeda. Normally, 70 per cent of the total contracted quantity gets shipped.

The official also mentioned that the maximum quantity of basmati rice exported from India was in the form of unbranded commodity and the branded products comprised only 20 per cent.

“There is a scope to push export of this segment (branded products),” he said.

According to the crop survey conducted by Apeda, the total basmati rice production in paddy form is estimated to be higher by almost 10 per cent to 70 lakh tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year, against 64 lakh tonnes in the previous year.