Yesterday the Indian government announced that it has decided to prohibit the export of onions with immediate effect.
“The export of all varieties of onions… is prohibited, with immediate effect,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification in this regard.
“The provisions under ‘Transitional Arrangement’ shall not be applicable under this notification.”
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In the revised policy, the export of all varieties including ‘Bangalore Rose’ onions and ‘Krishnapuram’ onions but excluding onions in cut, sliced or broken in powder form, has been prohibited.
These varieties of onion were free for export till now.
The Economic Times reported that an official aware of the development cited lack of vegetable stock in the national market.
“Rates have increased and there is shortage of onion in the domestic market. While this shortage is seasonal, a huge amount of exports were done in the last few months during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the official said.
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India exported 270 million AUD worth of onions in the April-June period of fiscal year 21 and 600 million AUD between 2019 and 2020.
Bangladesh, Malaysia, UAE and Sri Lanka are the top importers of Indian onions.
The daily also reported that India had banned the exports of the key kitchen staple, in 2019, in the wake of its rising prices in the country and set the minimum export price (MEP) of onion at 1,160 AUD a tonne to curb its shipments. It would also help to bring down soaring prices in the domestic market due to floods in parts of major growing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Additionally, the MEP was lifted in March this year and onions were made free for export.
IANS