Govt bans onion exports till Jan15 on price spike

Prices have risen 70% to Rs 60-70 a kg in the past few days.

A worried government on Monday decided to suspend onion exports till January 15 in the wake of skyrocketing prices of the commodity which is selling between Rs 60-70 a kg.

Agriculture cooperative major Nafed, a regulating agency, has been asked to stop giving fresh clearance to exporters. The government has also made exports almost impossible for those who are already in possession of ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) given by the Nafed and 12 other agencies.

It has more than doubled the minimum export price (MEP) to $1,200 a tonne from $525, meaning no shipment can take place below this price.

“We have decided to voluntarily suspend issuing NOC to onion exporters till January 15 and have also raised the MEP to $1,200 a tonne for those NOCs which is yet to be executed,” an official said.

The decision to suspend exports was taken at an emergency meeting of Nafed held on Monday.

Onion prices have doubled to Rs 60-70 a kg in retail markets in the national capital in the past few days due to supply crunch, prompting the government to call an emergency meeting to review export of the important agri produce.

Onion prices which were already high at Rs 35-40 a kg rose astronomically since yesterday when it skyrocketed to Rs 60-70 a kg in the retail outlets in Delhi and surrounding areas.

The wholesale price of the onion has soared to Rs 30-60 a kg in Azadpur market (Asia’s biggest fruit & vegetables market) since yesterday, trade sources said. Traders attributed the phenomenon to supply crunch due to unseasonal rain in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Southern states, bulk producers of the vital produce.

“Supply of onion has dipped almost by 50 per cent in the Azadpur market,” General Secretary of Chamber of Azadpur Fruit & Vegetables, Rajendra Sharma said. Only 80 tempos (each one carrying nine tonnes) and 20 trucks (each truck carrying 15 tonnes) arrived in the Azadpur market on Monday from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Sharma said.

Surendra Bidhi Raj, an Onion trader, opioned that rise in onion prices is due to large-scale export of the produce to gulf countries and neighbouring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh since September last.

They said the supply crisis is expected to continue for another 15 days till there is a pick up in arrival of fresh produce from Nashik in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Maharashtra is the largest producer of onion in the country.