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Bharat International Rice Conference

The Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC) is the Indian Rice Exporters Federation's conference for the rice trade, run with APEDA, now in its second year. If you import basmati or non-basmati rice then it puts a big slice of India's exporters in one building for three days.

The Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC) is the Indian Rice Exporters Federation's conference for the rice trade, run with APEDA, now in its second year. If you import basmati or non-basmati rice then it puts a big slice of India's exporters in one building for three days.

And unusually for an Indian event, the organiser publishes proper hosted-buyer terms. If you've imported rice regularly for three years then your flight and hotel can be covered, in return for real time on the floor.

Next edition

Who exhibits

IREF organises it and says it has 7,700 or more members. For 2026 the organiser expects 300 or more exhibitors on about 940 stalls (organiser's site). Expect rice millers, exporters and traders.

Many members are merchant exporters who buy from mills and ship under their own name. That's a normal way the rice trade works. Ask which mill will process your order, and who answers for grade and residue results if a shipment fails.

Hosted-buyer terms

Published by the organiser for 2026 (buyer facilitation note, read 25 September 2026). For eligible international buyers, meaning at least three years of regular rice imports into your country, IREF offers -

  • Flights: economy return airfare, reimbursed up to a cap against your passport, visa, tickets and boarding pass. Check the current cap in the note before you book.
  • Hotel: up to three nights, room only, at a star hotel near the venue on 22, 23 and 24 October.
  • Ground and meals: airport transfers, hotel-to-venue transport, lunch on 23 and 24 October and a gala dinner on 24 October.
  • The condition: at least six hours at the venue on each of 23 and 24 October, checked by badge scan, or the support can be withdrawn. 25 October is a public day and isn't covered.

Visa

The e-Business Visa is the usual route. Apply at least two weeks ahead and use the organiser's invitation letter form.

Getting there

Bharat Mandapam is at Pragati Maidan in central New Delhi. ITPO says the 123-acre complex has metro connectivity and underground parking, so check which gate serves your hall before you set off (ITPO, read September 2026).

What to expect

A conference with an exhibition floor and a "global rice archive" of about 200 varieties to compare before you meet exporters. Plan on sessions and side meetings as much as stands. The dates also fall in the run-up to Diwali (8 November 2026), when Indian offices slow down, so lock your meetings before you fly.

Go in knowing how Indian rice fails at borders, because it's almost always the same thing.

Quality control in India covers how to set that sampling up.

Past editions

Sources

Where SourcingSync helps

Want rice exporters checked against their public records, mill visits run and your lot sampled before it ships? SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) does it.

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