No Fresh Curbs on Broken Rice Exports: Why Big Government Rice Stocks Shape Export Policy
The government has decided not to bring back any restriction on the export of broken rice, because it expects steady paddy procurement and large central stocks.
India is the world's largest rice exporter. It exported 8.08 lakh tonnes of broken rice in calendar year 2025.
India had banned broken rice exports on 9 September 2022, when there were worries about domestic availability and rising prices. The ban was lifted on 7 March 2025, after rice stocks with the government grew far above the required buffer levels.
For the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2026-27, the paddy procurement estimate has been set at about 708.64 lakh tonnes, the lowest in about six years, as paddy area fell slightly this year. Even so, existing stocks remain large.
Broken rice is the cheaper, broken pieces of grain left after milling. It is used as animal feed, in breweries, for making ethanol, and as cheap food in some importing countries, especially in Africa and Asia.
Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Buffer Stock Norms
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the government body that buys wheat and rice from farmers, stores them, moves them across the country and supplies them to states for the ration system. The stock it holds for the country is called the central pool. Buffer stock norms are the minimum amounts of wheat and rice the central pool must hold at the start of each quarter of the year. Together, they are the backbone of India's food security.
The government is comfortable allowing broken rice exports because central pool rice stocks are far above the buffer norms, and procurement of the new paddy crop is continuing steadily. When stocks were tighter in 2022, the same system worked in reverse, and broken rice exports were banned to protect domestic supply.
Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023
The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 is the Government of India's main rulebook for exports and imports. It came into force on 1 April 2023 and decides which goods can be traded freely and which need a licence or are banned. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, runs it. The power to make this policy and to ban or restrict any export comes from the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992.
The decision not to bring back curbs means broken rice stays "Free" for export under the FTP. If domestic stocks or prices change sharply, the DGFT can again restrict it through a notification, as it did in 2022.
- India: world's largest rice exporter
- Broken rice exports in calendar year 2025: 8.08 lakh tonnes
- Broken rice export ban: 9 September 2022; lifted 7 March 2025
- KMS 2026-27 paddy procurement estimate: about 708.64 lakh tonnes, lowest in about six years
- Paddy MSP for 2026-27: ₹2,441 per quintal (common) and ₹2,461 per quintal (Grade A)
- Buffer norm for rice on 1 October: 10.25 million tonnes; on 1 January: 7.61 million tonnes
- FCI set up in 1965 under the Food Corporations Act, 1964
- Export policy powers: Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992; FTP 2023 in force from 1 April 2023