Covid fallout: Basmati orders dwindle over rising freight rates SECTIONS Share Synopsis “Hardly any new orders are coming from the overseas markets. Unless the Covid situation improves in the country, we do not see good movement of basmati rice to the global markets,” Nathi Ram Gupta, president of All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA), told ET. In FY21, India had exported 13.08 million tonnes of non-basmati rice compared with 5.05 million tonnes in FY20. As Covid-19 infections surge in the country, basmati exporters say orders are dwindling over rising freight rates and concerns that the virus may spread through consignments. “Hardly any new orders are coming from the overseas markets. Unless the Covid situation improves in the country, we do not see good movement of basmati rice to the global markets,” Nathi Ram Gupta, president of All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA), told ET.