Summary to grant industry status to rice forwarded to ECC

The federal government has decided to grant industry status to rice processing mills to boost the commodity’s exports and solve other problems, sources said on Tuesday.

In this regard, the Ministry of Commerce will send a summary to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

Sources in the Ministry of Commerce told The Express Tribune that giving industry status to rice would help the industry get financing facilities from banks while other issues, including energy supply to the sector, would also be resolved. In addition, the industrialization of rice is expected to increase rice exports as well as its production.

Currently, Pakistan produces 8.7 million tonnes of rice, of which 3.5 million tonnes is reserved for domestic use. If this crop is worked on, sources said, it will also help in increasing the rice crop exports.

Read ‘Surplus rice to be exported’

Sources in the commerce ministry said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has also approved the decision to grant industry status to rice mills. Besides, all the provinces and ministries have also responded positively.

A summary will now be sent to the ECC for approval next week in this regard.

In May this year, a high-level meeting reviewed in detail the targets of the move set under the Economic Outreach Initiative (EOI) to be introduced by the Prime Minister’s National Security Division. It discussed the mechanism of the sale of rice to increase prosperity by branding and registering Pakistani rice in the international market.