85 percent gap in onion exports after implementation of minimum export price

Mumbai: After fixing the minimum export price of onion, there has been a gap of approximately 85 percent in its export in the country in the first three weeks of the current month. In August, the government also imposed forty percent export duty on onions.

The minimum export price of onion has been fixed at $800 per ton. According to the received statistics, onion export decreased by 48 percent year-on-year in September, while it decreased by 11.80 percent in October. In the first three weeks of the current month, exports have decreased by 85 percent to 19,347 tonnes, government sources said.

Export price fixation is believed to be the reason for such a large drop in exports in November. To control the price of onion at home, the government has decided to impose forty percent duty in addition to the minimum export price as part of controlling its export.

Indian onions are mostly exported to places like Nepal, Bangladesh, UAE.

After the implementation of export duty, the farmers started protesting against the government and the government also decided to buy two lakh tonnes of onions from the farmers.

Before the export price fixation, the export price was around $320 per ton. The government has taken various measures to maintain adequate supply of onion at home in view of the assembly elections in five states.