More Stories

Informist, Thursday, Apr. 24, 2025

By J. Navya Sruthi

MUMBAI – Rising temperatures across the country have led to a fall in supply of basmati rice, pushing prices of the aromatic rice higher, traders said. Prices of wheat were steady from the previous day. However, traders said arrivals of wheat in the market are expected to fall as the India Meteorological Department has forecast heatwave conditions to continue over most parts of the country next month, which may prevent farmers from selling the grain. Prices of maize rose Thursday due to firm demand from ethanol plants, traders added.

Prices of basmati RICE rose by INR 200-INR 400 per 100 kg from the previous day as supply fell amid high temperatures across the country. "Prices usually rise at this time of the year as (rice) boilers in Punjab and Haryana shut operations because of heat," said Devendra Vora, a wholesale dealer at Navi Mumbai's Vashi market. Traders use rice stocks held by them as production from rice boilers halts at this time, he added.

Prices of the 1401 basmati rice variety in Vashi market were up at INR 6,800 per 100 kg Thursday from INR 6,400 per 100 kg and those of the 1509 variety rose by INR 200 to INR 6,800 per 100 kg. The 1121 basmati variety was also priced higher by INR 200 at INR 8,100-INR 8,200 per 100 kg.

However, prices of non-basmati rice varieties remained unchanged due to lack of fresh cues. Prices of kolam rice in Vashi market were steady at INR 5,200–INR 5,400 per 100 kg, Vora said. Prices of broken rice also remained steady at INR 2,700 per 100 kg, he said.

In Vijayawada's Bhavanipuram in Andhra Pradesh, prices of sona masoori rice, a premium non-basmati rice variety, were steady at INR 5,000 per 100 kg, Ravi Shankar, a local trader said. Prices have been lower at current levels for the past two to three months. There is ample supply of the grain in the domestic market, which restricted a rebound in prices, Shankar said. 

Prices of MAIZE in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, rose by INR 30 to INR 2,300 per 100 kg from the previous day, local trader Gaurav Kochar said. Prices rose due to firm demand from ethanol plants, he said. However, pressure from rabi arrivals is likely to restrict further upside in maize prices, he added.

According to data released by the agriculture ministry, the area under maize, the largest coarse cereal grown during summer, rose to 685,000 hectares from 532,000 hectares last year.

Prices of mill-quality WHEAT in Kota, Rajasthan, were steady at INR 2,400-INR 2,430 per 100 kg, local trader Aniket Mehta said. Arrivals fell by 10,000 bags from Monday to 90,000 bags (1 bag = 50 kg), he said, adding that arrivals are expected to fall further in May as temperatures are likely to increase. "We should wait-and-watch if farmers will hold the crop or sell," Mehta said.

Wheat prices in Indore were also largely steady from the previous day at INR 2,680 per 100 kg and arrivals were also unchanged at 3,000 bags (1 bag = 100 kg), Kochar said. Prices of the same quality wheat were steady in Vashi at INR 2,750 per 100 kg, Vora said, adding that wheat prices are likely to remain in a range in the near term. However, prices of the staple grain in Delhi were up by INR 35 at INR 2,675 per 100 kg, according to traders.  End

Edited by Nishant Maher

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000 

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.