2024-05-05 19:50:53
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the country, the government on Saturday lifted the ban on onion export. Along with this, the minimum export price (MEP) has been fixed at $550 per tonne. “Onion export policy has been revised to exempt it from the ban under MEP of $550 per tonne with immediate effect and till further orders,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. In August last year, India had imposed 40 percent export duty on onion till December 31, 2023. On December 8, 2023, the government had banned the export of onion till March 31 this year. In March, the export ban was extended until further orders.
expected production
The Union Agriculture Ministry had released onion production figures in March. According to the data, onion production in 2023-24 (first advance estimate) is expected to be around 254.73 lakh tonnes compared to last year’s around 302.08 lakh tonnes. According to the data, production has decreased by 34.31 lakh tonnes in Maharashtra, 9.95 lakh tonnes in Karnataka, 3.54 lakh tonnes in Andhra Pradesh and 3.12 lakh tonnes in Rajasthan. According to the wholesale inflation data of March, the price of onion had increased by more than 50 percent. Experts believed that the government is not allowing export of onion only to control the price.
Farmers had protested
Farmers of Maharashtra had protested against the export ban. Last month, Congress had accused the Narendra Modi government of neglecting Maharashtra farmers due to the ban on onion exports.