The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has severely impacted Bundi’s Basmati rice industry, with nearly 3,75,000 quintals of rice worth over Rs 300 crore stranded at seaports and in storage, industry representatives said Sunday.
The halt in exports threatens the livelihood of around 10,000 workers, 60% of whom are from Bihar, employed across 35 rice factories in the Bundi-Kota region. Factory owners are considering reducing production due to limited storage space.
“Bundi’s Basmati rice is exported to Iran, Iraq, UAE, Sudan, Turkey, Jordan, Algeria, Kuwait, and some European countries,” said Neeraj Goyal, president of the Bundi Rice Mill Association, adding that exporters are also struggling to receive pending payments, with only a few major buyers releasing partial funds.
Ramandeep Sharma, president of Bundi district’s Laghu Udhyog Bharti, highlighted that 25,000 quintals of rice are processed daily in Bundi and Kota, with 80% exported to UAE, Iran, and Iraq. He noted that the war has halted exports of the 3,75,000 quintals and affected market prices, which were at Rs 80 per kg at the onset of the conflict. Shipping companies transporting rice to Iran and Iraq have also been denied insurance due to war conditions, further complicating exports.
Sharma urged the state government to provide special concessions and support packages for rice millers and laborers, similar to measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bundi rice industry, generating an annual turnover of around Rs 4,000 crore, produces 15 lakh tonnes of Basmati rice annually across Bundi, Kota, and Baran, according to miller Bhanu Nyati. While some mills have reduced production or shifted to maintenance work, laborers have so far not been asked to stop working, said labor contractor Badri Lal.
Local farmers, already hit by the Russia-Ukraine war with losses of Rs 1,000-1,500 per quintal, now face further setbacks. Balwant Singh of Barkheda village, who cultivates 1,985 DSR over 20 bighas of farmland, described the ongoing situation as “devastating” for the region’s rice business.
