rice has a critical role in Asia’s food security, hence, it is politically sensitive and vulnerable to national government policy actions and private sector speculation. In India, for example, Gulati et al. (2011) characterized India’s historical rice trade policy as “stop-go” which contributed to the uncertainty in the international rice market. The government sets minimum support prices and provides input subsidies at the farm level; coupled with policies on procurement, stocks, and distribution. They note that until 1991, exports of common rice in India were subject to canalization, minimum export price (MEP), and export quotas. In 1994 export bans on non-basmati rice and MEP for basmati rice were eliminated. The export ban on non-basmati rice was re-implemented in 2007/2008. The MEP for basmati rice was also re-introduced. Gradual liberalization of non-basmati rice started in 2010, mainly because of increasing pressure from maintaining an abnormally high level of rice stocks.