Govt frees up onion export

The government on Wednesday allowed open export of all varieties of onions against the earlier practice of canalising them through State Trading Enterprises (STEs) to enable faster shipment of the commodity.

"Export of onion has been made free. Earlier, export of onion was permitted through STEs," the commerce department said in a notification issued.

Among the canalising agencies for export of onion are Nafed, Spices Trading Corporation, Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board, and AP State Trading Corporation, among others.

Earlier this month, the government had abolished the export floor price of onions as domestic prices dropped to Rs 6-7 a kg in the wholesale markets. The government had imposed minimum export prices (MEP) on onion in September 2013 and then it was raised several times to curb exports and boost domestic supplies as retail prices had shot up as high as Rs 100 a kg in major parts of the country. India had to even import onion to control price rise.

In 2012-13, the country had exported 1.82 million tonnes. India's annual onion production is estimated at 18.9 million tonnes in 2013-14, while in 2012-13 it was around 16.8 million tonnes.