Govt imposes $850/tonne minimum export price on onion

The government has fixed a minimum export price of $850 per tonne on onions in order to check exports and bring down spiralling prices in the local market.

“Export of all varieties of onions, as described above, will be allowed only on Letter of Credit subject to the MEP of $850 FOB per tonne till further orders,” according to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Friday.

The average wholesale onion price at the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Maharashtra, which is the country’s largest wholesale market for the bulb, touched a high of ₹2,500 per quintal this week. A fall in supply of onions from Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka is one of the reasons for the price rise. Rains in parts of the country, including Maharashtra, also hamper the movement of onions to markets.

In Delhi, retail prices of onions have touched ₹50 per kg prompting the Centre to write to the Delhi government asking it to sell the kitchen staple from its buffer stock at lower prices through its civil supplies department and ration shops.