Exports of grapes from India touched an all-time high in 2015-16, with exports to Europe more than doubling compared to that in the previous financial year. At the same time, India became an importer of many other commodities such as maize, wheat and soyabean.
Using tanker water, farmers from Maharashtra, which accounts for nearly 98% of grapes shipped during the fiscal, exported grapes at a price cheaper than that charged by Chile.
“We expect the total exports to be over 2 lakh tonnes. The earlier high was 1.92 lakh tonnes,” said Jagannath Khapre, president of All India Grape Exporters Association.
Apart from Europe and West Asia, Bangladesh, the Far East, Russia and China are the other export destinations for Indian grapes. Compared to 10-12 euros per box of Chilean grapes, Indian grapes were sold at 8-10 euros per box.