Rice And Shine: Non-Basmati Exporters To Get 5 Per Cent Benefit Under MEIS

The Indian government will be extending a five per cent benefit to non-basmati rice exporters under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Economic Times has reported.

Indian rice exports account for a quarter of global exports. Countries that import Indian rice are Africa, the US, Europe and South East Asia. India exports 8-9 million tonnes of non-basmati rice every year.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade has said that the scheme will be operational from 26 November till March 2019. The export support scheme has been introduced due to a 10 per cent fall in rice exports in the last six months. Indian rice exports have become non-competitive globally due to high minimum support price.

Exporters will get a certificate or a scrip from the DGFT for their exports which can be traded by exporters. The scheme will also make Indian exporters competitive in comparison to those in Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan.

Exporters had sought a 10 per cent MEIS to enable them to compete in the international market, in addition to lower interest rates from banks.