Basmati Rice Export Data: Buyers & Importers 2026

India shipped more basmati rice in FY2024-25 than in any year on record: 6.07 million tonnes worth $5.94 billion (Rs 50,312 crore), up 15.7% by volume and dispatched to 154 countries, all moving under HS code 1006 30 (India's 8-digit line 1006 30 20 is basmati specifically). That's the headline. The useful layer of basmati rice export data sits underneath it: the importers writing those cheques, in Riyadh, Baghdad, Tehran, Dubai and New Jersey, are named in global shipment records with volumes and dates. On top, a statistic. Underneath, a prospecting list.

Most basmati rice exporters never open that list. They work the same trade-fair contacts and broker referrals while a ranked roster of who buys basmati, how much, and how often sits in the records. For a miller in Karnal or Amritsar, the gap between guessing and knowing is the gap between a thin brokered margin and a direct account. Here's what the numbers say, and how to read them.

The basmati rice export data most exporters miss

The record was set on volume, not price. Basmati export from India reached 60.65 lakh tonnes (6.07 million MT) in FY2024-25 against 52.42 lakh tonnes the previous year, an extra 8.23 lakh tonnes of grain crossing the border (APEDA). Value grew far more slowly, from about $5.84 billion to $5.94 billion. That gap tells the real story: average realisation dropped from roughly $1,114 per tonne in FY2023-24 to about $980 per tonne (Export Mandi). Exporters shipped more and earned less per bag. India also widened its footprint to 154 destinations, up from 150, and its rice trade overall kept climbing through 2025 (ABC Live).

For a mid-size exporter that mix matters more than the top-line billions. A softer price means the buyer you land, and how directly you reach them, decides your margin. Which is exactly the variable trade data lets you control: skip the broker layer and the per-tonne spread comes back to you.

Who imports the most basmati rice?

Saudi Arabia imports the most basmati rice, taking 1.17 million tonnes from India in FY2024-25, worth over $1.1 billion, ahead of Iraq (0.91M t) and Iran (0.86M t) (APEDA). The top buyer countries by volume:

1. Saudi Arabia: 1.17 million tonnes
2. Iraq: 0.91 million tonnes
3. Iran: 0.86 million tonnes
4. Yemen: 0.39 million tonnes
5. UAE: 0.39 million tonnes
6. United States: 0.27 million tonnes

Basmati is a Gulf-and-West-Asia trade first, everything else second. Those five West Asian markets absorb more than half of India's volume, and the UAE doubles as a re-export hub feeding the wider Gulf. The United States is the biggest Western market at 0.27 million tonnes, followed by the UK (0.18M t), Kuwait, Oman and Qatar (APEDA).

The buyer list for basmati isn't a mystery — it's a ranking. Five Gulf markets take over half the crop, and every importer in them is named, by volume, in the shipment record.

What the ranking hides is churn inside it. Iran's purchases swing hard on sanctions, payment channels and freight, and 2025-26 proved it. Payment trouble usually shows in the data before it makes the news: an importer's shipment cadence thins weeks ahead of any headline. The exporter who watches which basmati rice importers are actually receiving cargo this quarter, not last year's league table, wins the reallocation when a market wobbles.

Basmati rice HS code and product breakdown

The basmati rice HS code is 1006 30, the global six-digit line for milled rice; within India's ITC-HS schedule, 1006 30 20 (10063020) is basmati, 1006 30 10 is parboiled rice, and 1006 30 90 is other milled rice. Get the code right or your basmati rice export data search returns noise: the broad six-digit line pulls in non-basmati white rice, while the Indian eight-digit line isolates the trade you actually compete in. (New to codes? Start with our guide to what an HS code is and how to use it.)

On product, most export volume is long-grain aromatic varieties. Pusa Basmati 1121 and 1509 dominate, alongside traditional and Pusa Basmati 1401, sold as raw (sella), steamed and golden sella grades. Origin is tightly clustered: India's GI basmati belt runs across Punjab (Amritsar), Haryana (Karnal, Taraori), western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and parts of J&K. That geography, plus Gulf buyers' grade preferences, is why the same importer name recurs shipment after shipment.

Policy and price: the MEP shock and what followed

The pivot was policy. In September 2024 India removed the $950-per-tonne minimum export price (MEP) on basmati, a floor exporters had long argued handed share to Pakistan (KBS Sidhu, Business Standard). Volume responded; the record year followed. So did price softening, with basmati sliding on the freer market into late 2025.

Then the shocks stacked up. Flooding across Punjab's basmati districts in August 2025 rattled supply, and fresh 25% US tariffs aimed at Iran's trading partners plus payment delays hit the Tehran channel, dragging domestic prices down (Goodreturns). A roughly Rs 6,000-crore Iran market came under threat (Rice News Today). Regional conflict pushed freight costs up and created container shortages that slowed Middle East shipments into 2026 (AgTechNavigator). US-bound trade faced its own floods-and-tariffs squeeze, with Pakistan angling to take share (ABC News).

New Delhi's answer is to spread the risk: India is courting China and Singapore and other non-traditional markets to cut Gulf dependence (S&P Global). For an exporter, every one of those disruptions is a buyer reshuffle. Reshuffles reward whoever reads the shipment data first.

How to turn basmati rice export data into a buyer list

ShipScout is a global trade-intelligence platform, an affordable alternative to Panjiva and ImportGenius, built on 11 billion-plus shipment records across 240+ countries turned into ranked buyer and supplier lists. For India it works from mirrored licensed trade data, so an exporter can go from "I mill great basmati" to "here are 200 verified importers ranked by volume" in an afternoon. The workflow:

• Search by HS code 1006 30. Pull every basmati shipment across markets and see the importers, their counterparties and shipping cadence. Begin at the company directory and filter to rice.
• Rank importers by volume in a target market. Don't pitch a boutique when a UAE-based importer is clearing containers monthly — sort by tonnage and call the top of the list first.
• Vet before you ship. Check a buyer's or counterparty's real trade history so you're not extending credit on a name you can't verify — here's how to verify an international partner before paying.
• Reach the decision-makers. Use contact intelligence (where available) to get past the info@ inbox, and lean on the wider playbook for finding buyers for export from India and the broader food & agro buyer-hunting guide.

One habit working exporters swear by: pull a target market's last quarter of shipments, note which importers took 1121 sella from a competitor, and open the first email with that exact shipment — grade, tonnage, date. Replies change when a prospect realises you can see their buying. You can also size up the competing India-based exporters before you quote. If you export basmati rice, Pusa 1121, 1509 or traditional grades, the buyer list is already written. You just need to open it. Start a free trial and search HS code 1006 30 to see who's importing right now.