HIGHLIGHTS: The move comes in the aftermath of increasing onion prices that have led to government outrage. The increase in the price of onions is due to continuous rainfall and flooding in the onion-producing countries.
Sunday’s government prohibited onion exports to boost commodity accessibility on the national market and contain increasing prices. “Export of all kinds of onions… is forbidden with instant impact,” the Directorate-General for Foreign Trade (DGFT), an arm of the Ministry of Commerce that deals with problems linked to exports and imports, said in a statement. The DGFT implemented a minimum export cost (MEP) of USD 850 per tonne on September 13 to reduce their deliveries and help bring down rising domestic prices.
The MEP is the rate below which is not permitted to export. Retail onion prices in Delhi and some other areas of the nation have risen to Rs 60-80 per kg because of supply disturbance from flood-affected increasing countries such as Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the central government is unloading 50,000 tons of onion buffer stock across the nation to help customers get relief from elevated prices. The Center also advised last month of stringent action against onion hoarding in the midst of supply disturbance owing to flooding in areas of significant increasing states–Maharashtra and Karnataka.
