Export containers stranded at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in Navi Mumbai on March 3, owing to the ongoing war in Iran.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The ongoing war between US-Israel and Iran has started impacting Indian exports, especially of agricultural produce, to West Asia, especially the Gulf nations.
In Maharashtra, more than a thousand containers of fruits are stuck at Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), India’s largest container handling port also known as Nhava Sheva, leaving exporters distraught. Besides, farmers are also facing hurdles in selling their produce in the domestic market as prices have crashed by almost 20 per cent. The bad news has come in the month of Ramzan, when fruits are in great demand.
Solapur district of western Maharashtra and Jalgaon district in the State’s north are known for banana production, with both districts having huge tracts of plantations primarily for exports. Countries in the Gulf and Europe are the top importers, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the exports.
Exports grind to halt
Speaking to Frontline on March 11, Kiran Doke of KD Group, a banana exporter based in Kandar village of Solapur district, said: “Over the last six days, not a single ship containing fruits to Gulf is sailing from JNPA. Now the agents are returning the fruits to us. Exports have completely stopped.”
Solapur district alone exports thousands of crores of rupees worth of bananas, pomegranates, grapes, and guavas every year. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Maharashtra accounts for 33 per cent of the country’s fruit production.
An official at JNPA said that almost 1,600 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) are currently inside the port terminal. Of these, some 1,250 TEUs contain fruits worth around Rs.1,200 crore. A senior official at the State’s agricultural produce marketing department said that various Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) currently have fruits worth Rs.10,000 crore ready for export. But with no end to the war in sight, the shipments remain stuck; meanwhile, prices have started falling in the domestic market too.
Sanjay Pansare, a major fruit trader and exporter in Navi Mumbai, who deals in various fruits, from banana and mango to orange and pomegranate, said: “Usually, Gulf demand grows in the month of Ramzan. But this war has destroyed the market. Now rates of export quality pomegranate and banana are down. These losses are unbearable.”
Local prices fall
In Mumbai’s major fruit markets such as Crawford Market and Byculla market, pomegranates are selling at Rs.115-120 a kilogram, compared to Rs.150 in the third week of February. Similarly, in the case of oranges, the best quality fruits are selling at Rs.60-75 a kg, a decline of 15-20 per cent.
Vivek Raikar, a pomegranate farmer with an orchard of 200 trees in Ahilya Nagar district, said that he has Rs.10 lakh worth of fruits ready for export. “Our traders book the fruits in January itself. Our production goes mostly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets. We have even received an advance of Rs.2.5 lakh from traders. But now exports have stopped. There is a question mark over our future,” he said.
After Gudi Padva, the Marathi new year that falls on March 19 this year, another major fruit, the Konkan mango, famously known as alphonso, will start arriving in the market. Since 60 per cent of India’s mango exports go to the Gulf region, there will be a huge impact on mango growers as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Sanjay Pansare said: “We can’t imagine the losses if mango exports remain shut. A big chunk of fruit markets in Mumbai will be hit badly. This crisis must get prevented at the earliest.”
According to Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a think tank on trade research, India exported agricultural produce worth $11.8 billion to West Asia in 2025. The exports mainly comprise rice, cereals, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and spices. As the war drags on, a massive loss of business is on the cards for the country’s exporters.
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