India's Rice Trade: Where Exports and Policy Stand in FY 2025-26

India remains the world's largest rice exporter, and the numbers from the current trade cycle show a market that is shifting rather than shrinking. FY 2024-25 closed with total rice exports of $12.47 billion on 20.19 million tonnes, giving India close to 30% of global rice export volume. The story underneath that headline figure, though, is a split one: basmati and non-basmati rice are moving in different directions.

Non-basmati: volume up, value down

Non-basmati shipments touched a little over 15 million tonnes in FY 2025-26, a 6.5% rise over the prior year. Export earnings told a different story: $5.86 billion, down more than 10% from $6.53 billion in FY 2024-25. Lower international prices explain most of the gap. Regionally, shipments to West and Central Africa and the ASEAN bloc softened, while South Asia, East Africa, West Asia and other Southern African markets picked up the slack.

Basmati: premium volumes, geopolitical exposure

Basmati accounts for roughly 30% of India's rice export volume but pulls in nearly half the export revenue, reflecting its price premium. FY 2024-25 basmati exports stood at 6.06 million tonnes worth $5.94 billion. Five markets — Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, the UAE and Yemen — together absorbed around 60% of that volume. Iran's share has been under pressure: payment delays tied to sanctions and, more recently, Middle East conflict disruptions have slowed shipments and pushed Iran-bound basmati trade to a multi-year low in parts of FY26.

Policy: a cycle of restriction and release

India's non-basmati white rice trade has been through several policy phases in a short span. An export duty of 20% was introduced in September 2022 to manage domestic prices. That gave way to an outright export ban in July 2023. The ban was lifted in September 2024 and replaced with a minimum export price of $490 per tonne, alongside an exemption from export duty. A month later, in October 2024, the government went further and removed the minimum export price entirely for both basmati and non-basmati rice, and lifted duties on parboiled and unhusked brown and white rice. The most recent change on record is a DGFT notification dated April 10, 2026, which adjusts inspection-certificate requirements for rice shipments bound for European markets — a compliance update rather than a trade restriction.

Imports: a negligible counterweight

India's rice imports remain minimal set against its export volumes. With domestic production for 2025-26 projected around 151 million tonnes and a comfortable buffer stock, India has no structural need to import rice at scale; whatever import activity exists is confined to small, specialty segments rather than bulk trade.