The government, however, has only marginally reduced the minimum export price on Basmati rice from 1,200 US dollars a tonne to 1,100 US dollars a tonne. Almost a dozen countries had cancelled import orders from India and the 55,000 tonnes of basmati rice left stranded on the Kandla port

in Gujarat forced India to cut the prices.

But with the Indian Basmati price in the international market still on the higher side, relatively, Pakistan, which was already

selling its produce at a lesser price, has brought the prices further down.

Talking to Newsline, Vijay Setia, president of All India Rice Exporters’ Association, said while the government’s decision to remove the export tax was welcome, the cut in prices was too little.