Among all the meals in the oilseeds complex, the Finance Minister has singled out de-oiled rice bran cake, also known as rice bran extraction, for a special treatment.
In the Union Budget, he has proposed an export duty of 10 per cent on de-oiled rice bran cake while simultaneously allowing duty-free imports of the item.
Admittedly, the commodity is an important ingredient of cattle feed and its improved availability would have a positive impact on milk production.
But why de-oiled rice bran alone should be picked for a special treatment in the form of tariff changes on import and export side is unclear. If anything, almost all extractions of oilseeds are ingredients of cattle feed. The country produces about 200 lakh tonnes of such oilseed-based meals.
Rice bran meal forms a minuscule share of overall meal export. While production of rice bran extraction is around 20 lakh tonnes a year, export volumes have been declining in recent years and currently stand at about one lakh tonnes out of total meal exports of 35-45 lakh tonnes, dominated by soyameal.