Wary of onions doing a tomato, the government has moved quickly and imposed a minimum export price of $800 on the common kitchen bulb with effect from October 29, to discourage exports and ensure domestic availability.
A notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), dated October 28, said that “the onion (all varieties, except Bangalore Rose and Krishnapurum), excluding cut, sliced or broken in powder form, shall be subject to a minimum export price of US 800 $ F.O.B per metric tone till 31st December ,2023. The notification will come into effect from 29th October, 2023".
However, the DGFT has made an exception for consignments which have been handed over to Customs before the notification was issued and is already registered in their system with verifiable evidence of date and time stamping and export duty paid before the issuance of the notification. This has been done to ensure that consignments which have already been cleared for exports prior to the issuance of the notification will not be barred at the various ports.
“The measure has been taken to maintain sufficient availability of onions to domestic consumers at affordable prices as the quantity of stored Rabi 2023 Onion is declining by curbing the quantity of onion exports. The MEP of USD 800$ per MT translates into about Rs 67/kg," the government said in a statement. Incidentally, the retail price of onions had shot up to approximately Rs 70 a kg at various retail outlets across the country.
Earlier in the day, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh had already announced the government’s decision to procure an additional 2 lakh MT of onions for the buffer over and above the 5 lakh MT already procured. Singh also said that of the 5 lakh MT of onion buffer, 1.5 Lakh MT has already been released.
Onion is one of the most volatile commodities subject to intense price fluctuations due to its seasonality. Onion price tends to rise around the commencement of the festive season in October till the arrival of the new kharif crop. The reason is the previous rabi onion stock start depleting and the new kharif crop is yet to arrive.
Earlier, in August this year, onion farmers had protested the central government’s decision of imposing a 40% duty on exports, even calling off auctions at the Lasalgaon wholesale market in Maharashtra. The farmers called off their agitation after the central government announced that it would purchase onions from farmers at Rs 2,410 per quintal for its buffer.
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