The All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) has formally opposed any expansion of the notified Basmati-growing region, passing a resolution against including new areas for Basmati GI at its general body meeting held earlier this week at Sonipat in Haryana. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, this resolution directly challenges Madhya Pradesh's long-standing demand for inclusion in the Basmati map, with the association reflecting growing resistance from the trade to the state's claim. Trade sources indicate that even some exporters who had earlier expressed support for MP's inclusion did not object to the resolution, suggesting a broadening consensus within the export industry against expanding the GI area at this stage. Some of the Basmati exporters from Punjab and Haryana were particularly vocal, wanting to know how the GI issue suddenly emerged after so many years, while a leading exporter suggested that AIREA should highlight how India has been consistently questioning the expansion of area in Pakistan.
The issue has become an emotive matter in Madhya Pradesh, first raised by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan when he was chief minister, as the state government had filed a case in GI registry for its inclusion. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in March threatened to go on a hunger strike if the state's farmers do not receive GI benefits for their Basmati rice. However, Chouhan is now on the defensive and declined to comment when asked about Singh's threat in April, stating the matter was sub-judice. Singh met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in May and sought his intervention, terming the previous stand of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) a "mistake and should be corrected now", sources said. He is also believed to have suggested that an impartial expert committee be set up to revisit the issue and find out what could be done.
Earlier this week, a senior official of the Commerce Ministry held stakeholder consultations with experts and APEDA officials on the GI issue. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, APEDA Chairman Abhishek Dev discussed the GI issue with various stakeholders including legal experts. Kedar Sirohi, head of farmer cell of Congress party in Madhya Pradesh, who met Dev last week, stated that APEDA should first decide what to do as the agri-export promotion body should not be a party to interest of any particular state. Sirohi, who was also present when Singh met Goyal, said he has taken up the GI issue with scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). "Since the GI mandate for Basmati rice is with APEDA, it has to decide if it wants inclusion of Madhya Pradesh or not. Once it agrees, a solution can be found when concerned people discuss the issue," Sirohi said.
The matter has been pending with Madras High Court since 2021, after the Supreme Court referred it there. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, after a prolonged hearing for years, in February 2016, the Chennai-based GI registry issued the GI certificate to APEDA for Basmati rice, under which the recognised area included some districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi. An expert requesting anonymity questioned India's opposition to Pakistan's move to expand Basmati area at global forums like the European Union, stating that till any judicial verdict comes, status quo should be maintained. Under the GI law, as Basmati rice has already received the GI tag, even if farmers grow Basmati varieties outside the demarcated GI area, those cannot be sold as Basmati, making it difficult to get exported.
