BHUBANESWAR: One of India’s largest paddy surplus states, Odisha continues to remain a marginal player in rice exports, with industry stakeholders attributing it to restrictive policy provisions and absence of a dedicated export ecosystem.
Industry estimates suggest the state’s rice exports currently stand at only around `300-400 crore annually, much of it routed through traders and processors from neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, with the latter using Odisha’s ports. This is far below the state’s export ambitions of `6,700 crore by 2036 and `10,000 crore by 2047.
The principal hurdle, according to industry representatives, is the regulated market structure. Existing food and procurement policies, along with restrictions on custom millers purchasing paddy or selling rice without official permission, have limited private trade and discouraged export-oriented investments.
Although the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2025-26 policy introduces provisions for “free sale” under specified conditions, rice millers of the state believe broader reforms are required to create a competitive market.
The contrast with neighbouring Chhattisgarh is striking. The state has liberalised paddy marketing through regulated market committees (RMC), where traders and millers compete to procure paddy, creating an active export ecosystem.
“Chhattisgarh reportedly crossed `10,000 crore in rice exports during 2025-26 financial year and recently exported 20 tonne of fortified rice to Papua New Guinea with support from APEDA,” said a leading miller of the state.
Odisha produced nearly 195 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of paddy during 2024-25 kharif marketing season (KMS) out of which the government procured 92.38 LMT, accounting for 47.37 per cent of total production, leaving an estimated surplus of over 102 LMT available for commercial sale.
The state also possesses substantial processing strength with 1,418 operational rice mills and a combined milling capacity of around 94,656 metric tonne per day, enabling government-procured paddy to be milled within about three months. However, this is only 33 per cent of the total milling capacity.
“Combined with access to ports, abundant raw material and strong global demand for parboiled and specialty rice, Odisha has all the ingredients to emerge as a major export hub. The state can replicate this success by reforming its procurement framework, easing market restrictions, establishing rice export clusters, promoting GI-tagged and specialty rice, creating a dedicated Rice Export Promotion Cell and organising regular international buyer-seller meets,” said general secretary of All Odisha Rice Millers’ Association Laxminarayan Deepak Ranjan Das.
Such reforms could attract investment in modern rice mills and value-added processing, generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, improve price realisation for farmers, increase foreign exchange earnings and position Odisha as a significant player in the global rice trade, he added.