NOVEMBER 20248AUTOMAKERS WITNESS RECORD SALES OWING TO FESTIVE SEASONBASMATI RICE EXPORTS SURGE 11% TO $2.87 BILLION AFTER MEP REMOVALLed by robust demand in the festive period, Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors are looking to have record retail sales in October. The companies are also eyeing bumper deliveries to customers on Dhanteras. The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, said it has delivered about 30,000 units to customers on Tuesday."We are also expecting another 10,000 deliveries tomorrow. Last year we had witnessed registration of around 23,000 units," Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) Partho Banerjee told PTI in an interaction.He noted that the company is witnessing robust demand and is expecting deliveries of around 2 lakh units this month."October is going be all-time high for us in terms of retail sales. It will be the highest ever. The earlier highest was 1,91,476 units in October 2020," Banerjee said.The bumber sales are also expected to bring down inventory levels for the company to around 30 days from the current 36-37 days, he noted.Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles MD Shailesh Chandra said the automaker has seen strong growth with 30 per cent increase in registrations in October compared to the previous year."As a result, this October, the total registrations for Tata Motors is expected to be the highest ever for the company. On Dhanteras, we will deliver more than 15,000 vehicles, on the back of robust demand for the entire portfolio, including new launches," he added.Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Santosh Iyer said the luxury car market leader has recorded its best ever sales this Dhanteras backed by new launches like the LWB E-Class and also strongly driven by SUVs like GLC, GLE & GLS. Basmati rice export showed a significant 11 percent increase, amounting to $2.87 billion. The recent elimination of the $950 per tonne minimum export price (MEP) implemented in October 2023 has helped boost the increase in high-value shipments.Government officials cited in the report stated that lifting limitations on rice exports is expected to result in a resurgence of agricultural exports in the latter half of FY25. The government lifted almost all restrictions on the export of basmati and non-basmati rice last month, which included getting rid of the MEP and export taxes.Despite a 17 per cent decrease in exports of non-basmati rice from April to September, totaling $2.25 billion because of restrictions, experts anticipate an increase in export quantities following the elimination of duties and MEP, which will help India regain its top spot in the worldwide rice market. The business-daily quoted Akshay Gupta, business head of bulk exports at KRBL, a major basmati exporter under the `India Gate' brand, stating that India's rice exporters are better positioned to reclaim lost market share due to trade policies. The timing of these eased export measures is particularly advantageous, given the expected 10-15 per cent increase in crop yield compared to last year.In the first half of FY25, India's agricultural sectorand processed food exports dipped slightly by 1 percent to reach $12.13 billion. This decline is credited to a significant 17 percent reduction in exports of non-basmati rice. TOP STORIES
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