In terms of value, Indian exports of the aromatic, long grain stood barely 0.34% lower
Farming Cosmos Report: Despite the US-Iran war affecting the trade in the Q4 of the fiscal year 2025-26 (April-March), India’s basmati rice exports in terms of volume were about 7.51% higher than FY 2024-25, as per the as per the data available with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
APEDA has quoted the data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), Kolkata, which put India’s basmati rice exports in FY 2025-26 at 65,21,009.35 metric tonnes (about 65.21 lakh metric tonnes or LMT) — 4,55,525.9 metric tonnes (about 4.55 LMT) more than FY 2024-25.
However, the exports were marginally lower in terms of value by Rs 173.77 crore (0.34%) at Rs 50,138.24 crore (nearly $ 5.6 billion) as the Indian rupee depreciated sharply against the US dollar during the FY 2025-26, lowering the returns for the rice exporters.
According to DGCIS data, India exported basmati rice worth about Rs 50,312.01 crore (nearly $5.87 billion) in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
India exported basmati rice to 154 countries in 2025-26, the same as 2024-25. Saudi Arabia was the biggest importer of the Indian basmati rice in quantity at about 10.55 LMT, followed by war-hit Iran at about 10 LMT and Iraq at about 7.64 LMT. These three countries were the top three importers in 2024-25 as well, buying about 11.73 LMT, 8.55 LMT and 9.05 LMT of the commodity respectively.
The other importers in the top 10 countries include the United Arab Emirates (about 5.35 LMT), Yemen Republic (about 3.97 LMT), the United States of America (about 2.83 LMT), the United Kingdom (about 2.42 LMT), Kuwait (about 2.04 LMT), Jordan (about 1.48 LMT) and Oman (about 1.43 LMT).
Saudi Arabia was the biggest buyer of the Indian basmati rice in terms of rupee value also at Rs 8,323.97 crore followed by Iran (Rs 6,971.44 crore), Iraq (Rs 5,582.56 crore), UAE (Rs 4,133.92 crore), Yemen (Rs 2,864.29 crore), and the US (Rs 2,521.9 crore).
Other big importers of Indian basmati rice in terms of value include the UK (Rs 1,913.05 crore), Kuwait (Rs 1,624.65 crore), Jordan (1,158.82 crore) and Oman (Rs 1,131.88 crore).
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