The world's second-biggest rice exporter in 2007, India banned all non-basmati rice shipments in March, one of a series of projectionist measures world-wide that triggered a wave of panic buying, causing benchmark Thai prices to nearly treble.
The rising price of staples like rice - called a "silent tsunami" by the World Food Programme - has sparked violent protests from Haiti to Somalia, and heightened fears that the world's poor may soon struggle to feed themselves.
"There are some requests from certain countries at diplomatic levels," T. Nand Kumar, the country's food secretary, told Reuters in an interview, the first time an Indian official has acknowledged pressure from other nations to resume sales. "I suppose they will be looked at rather than an open thing on exports."
India is also likely to take advantage of this year's bumper wheat harvest to establish a government-run stockpile of up to 3 million tonnes, Kumar said, confirming speculation about New Delhi's plans for a strategic reserve following two years in which it was forced to import extra grain.
The two issues underscore the growing anxiety around the world over food supplies at a time when the price of key grain crops has doubled or more in the past year, and highlight the delicate balance India faces in maintaining good international ties even as it curbs shipments to fight domestic inflation. The Asian Development Bank and others have criticised export bans or barriers they say distort trade and create the misleading impression of a supply crisis in a market where only about 7 percent of world production is openly traded.
Vietnam, China and Egypt have also curbed exports.
Despite early indications that India's spring rice crop will be more than enough to meet domestic needs, Kumar said the government was likely to maintain restrictions on most exports until October, when new season rice would be harvested.
DIPLOMATIC REQUESTS: But New Delhi will soon consider selling some limited volumes to its neighbours or countries with which India had a "strategic interest", he said. He declined to name the countries. "We have to take a very close look at what is available," Kumar said, adding that the sales volumes would be small, much less than 1 million tonnes.
Last year India exported about 4 million tonnes of rice, equivalent to around one-eighth of global trade, much of it to big Middle Eastern buyers like Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, all important suppliers of crude to Asia's third-largest economy.
India has already allowed exports of about 400,000 tonnes to Bangladesh, equivalent to about one-tenth of last year's total shipments, and some to Nepal and Bhutan. And it has not stopped sales of basmati rice, which makes up about a quarter of exports.
The government has forecast a 1.7 percent increase in rice output this year to 95.7 million tonnes, and the head of government grains buying arm told Reuters this week that he was confident of hitting his target of buying 27 million tonnes. In the longer term, however, India's policy could shift toward quotas or limits on overseas sales, Kumar said.
"Looking at food security across the world in the past two years, I think we'll have to take a very clear line about how much we can export and how much we cannot," he said.
WHEAT STOCKS: The Indian government's caution on grain supplies follows two years in which it was forced to import extra wheat when the Food Corp of India was unable to build up stocks. This year's crop is expected to hit a 76.78 million tonnes, equivalent to about one-eighth of world output, and New Delhi is poised to use it to safeguard against future uncertainty.
"Since we had sufficient stocks (in the past), there was no need for a strategic kind of buffer. Now with last two years of experience we feel that there is a need to keep something away for a possible climate change impact," he said.
Kumar said the government could make a decision on whether to proceed by mid-June, once the full wheat crop has come to market. He added that a similar rice stockpile could be considered later. The government's idea of creating strategic wheat reserves has been well received by the trade.
"This makes imminent sense. By virtue of this, India will not be held to ransom to any rise global prices and crop damage at home," said Atul Chaturvedi, president of Adani Enterprises Ltd, the biggest exporter of farm goods.