New Delhi (PTI): The government is considering to revise the Minimum Export Price (MEP) of non-basmati rice and is likely to take a decision soon, Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said.

"We are discussing with the commerce ministry and are likely to take a decision in a day or two," he said in response to a query on plans to hike the MEP of non-basmati rice.

The All India Rice Exporters Association has demanded increase in MEP to 600 dollars per ton in order to raise the availability of the foodgrain in the domestic market.

Both food and commerce ministries have to decide whether the current MEP of 500 dollars per ton is adequate, Pawar said while speaking on the sidelines of Kharif Campaign 2008-09.

Pawar said the price in the international market is quite high and also pointed out that the grain is not available in rice-exporting countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

Earlier, addressing the function, the minister said rice is not available in the world market while wheat is available, even if it is the red-coloured variety.

The government has fixed the MEP at 500 dollars or Rs 20,000 per ton for non-basmati rice to ensure buffer stocks for the public distribution system as well as to curtail the rising domestic prices, Minister for State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply in the Parliament on Tuesday.

India has exported 31.87 lakh tons of non-basmati rice, valued at Rs 3,759.84 crore during April-October of the current fiscal. In the previous year, the exports stood at 37.02 lakh tons valued at Rs 4,243.08 crore.

Basmati rice export till October in the current fiscal stands at 5.67 lakh tons valued at Rs 1,687.77 crore. In the 2006-07 fiscal, the country exported 10.45 lakh tons of the grain worth Rs 2,792.81 crore.