Following the relaxation of India’s ban on rice exports, Nepal has seen a sharp rise in rice imports in the current fiscal year 2024/25. While rice imports had been on a declining trend over the past two years, they nearly doubled by mid-April in this fiscal year compared to the same period last year.
According to data from the Department of Customs, Nepal imported rice worth Rs 32.01 billion by mid-April 2025. During the same period last year, imports amounted to only Rs 17.51 billion.
Statistics from Nepal Rastra Bank show that rice imports had been continuously decreasing in the past two fiscal years. In FY 2021/22, Nepal imported rice worth Rs 47.35 billion, which fell to Rs 36.40 billion in FY 2022/23, and further declined to Rs 22 billion in 2023/24.
Former President of the Nepal Rice, Oil, and Pulses Industry Association, Subodh Kumar Gupta, said that the recent surge in imports is due to India lifting its ban on non-basmati rice exports from July 20, 2023. India had previously banned even basmati rice exports in August 2022.
India has been imposing various export restrictions since 2021 to ensure adequate domestic supply as prices surged in its local market.
In September 2021, the Indian government imposed a 20 percent export tax on parboiled rice, which it removed in July 2022. With global food prices rising due to the Russia-Ukraine war, India had imposed several restrictions on rice exports.
In November 2023, the Indian government removed the export tax on parboiled rice. Prior to that, it had reduced the tax from 20 to 10 percent to boost overseas sales.
However, India recently scrapped the minimum export price requirement for both basmati and non-basmati rice varieties. In February 2025, it also lifted the export ban on broken rice grains.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Damodar Bhandari, acknowledged the recent surge in rice imports and stressed the need to focus on import substitution and increasing domestic production. Speaking at an event organised by the Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulses Industry Association on Monday in Kathmandu, he urged businesses to shift focus from relying on Indian rice imports to boosting local production and operating industries accordingly.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal produced 5,955,476 metric tonnes of paddy this year. This is an increase of 231,242 metric tonnes compared to last year’s production of 5,724,234 metric tonnes.
