Shiv Sena MPs protest outside Parliament, ask Centre to scrap MEP for onions

The Shiv Sena MPs on Thursday staged a protest at the Gandhi statue outside the Parliament, demanding the Centre to scrap the Minimum Export Price (MEP) for onions to help boost overseas shipments.

"The minimum export price (MEP) kept by the government is 700 US dollars. Other countries like the US, China, Pakistan, etc. have minimum export price of 300 US dollars. Because of this India has lost its international market," Shiv Sena MP Hemant Godse told reporters.

"We have surplus production of around 40 lakh metric tonnes of onion and we can't even export. We want the government to scrap the minimum export price of onion," he added.

With wholesale prices down to Rs. 10 per kg level, the Maharashtra Government has asked the Centre to scrap the minimum export price for onions to help boost overseas shipments.

Onion prices in the benchmark Lasalgaon market increased to Rs. 16 per kg on Saturday last week from Rs. 14 per kg just a day earlier due to drop in arrivals.