Well what I mean is that a lot of people don't have a 'local rice merchant' or aren't going there - so it's not 'often' much of a choice, i.e. across all points of sale.

I'm not talking about just India (nor just rice) if that's the confusion - I don't know where I'd personally go for a choice of basmati cultivars, but there's probably things (potatoes?) I have more choice of in the UK than there generally is in India.