The Government today increased sharply the minimum export price (MEP) of onion by $175 per tonne to $425 per tonne to ensure adequate domestic supply and contain price rise.
“Export of all varieties of onions...will be subject to a MEP of $425 FOB (freight on board) per tonne,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
The new MEP — rates below which no exports are allowed — will be applicable with immediate effect.
The government imposes MEP to restrict outbound shipments and check price rise in the domestic market.
The wholesale price of onion have risen to Rs 16-17 per Kg from Rs 11 per kg in last one month at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra —— Asia’s biggest onion market.
The wholesale prices have started increasing in view of marginal fall in the domestic production, which is estimated at 189.23 lakh tonnes for 2014-15 crop year (July-June), as against 194 lakh tonnes in the previous year, as per the government data.
The country’s onion exports declined to 10.86 lakh tonnes in the 2014-15 fiscal due to high MEP, as against 13.58 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.