Basmati rice exporters have urged the government to step in and regulate soaring shipping charges, warning that escalating war-related surcharges amid the West Asia crisis are making exports increasingly unviable.
The Basmati Rice Farmers & Exporters Development Forum (BRFEDF) has flagged a sharp rise in war-risk surcharges, which it says range from $800 to $6,000 per container. In extreme cases, total logistics costs have climbed to 60–70% of the cargo value, severely eroding exporter margins.
Forum Chairperson Priyanka Mittal said exporters are being forced to bear unpredictable and open-ended financial burdens due to circumstances beyond their control. She highlighted that such charges are often imposed without prior notice and, in some instances, revised even after shipments are underway.
The ongoing geopolitical tensions have also led shipping lines to reroute cargo to alternative ports such as Jebel Ali Port, Port of Sohar and Port of Salalah. Exporters allege that containers are being held at transhipment hubs without clarity on onward movement, or even returned to origin ports—decisions over which they have no control but must still finance.
The forum has called for stricter regulatory oversight, including linking shipping charges to actual services rendered, preventing shipping lines from withholding containers over disputed fees, and establishing clear guidelines for cargo handling during geopolitical disruptions.
While the Directorate General of Shipping has acknowledged exporter grievances and forwarded them to an inter-ministerial group, industry players say ground realities remain challenging.
Smaller exporters are facing the brunt of the crisis due to limited bargaining power against large global shipping firms. According to the forum, mounting costs have already pushed some traders to consider abandoning shipments altogether.
Exporters warn that if the situation remains unresolved, it could undermine confidence in India’s maritime trade ecosystem and disrupt the country’s basmati export momentum.