Export of KP Onions from AP to be permitted in couple of days: Goyal

Export of KP Onion variety from Andhra Pradesh will be permitted in a day or two, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Rose onions are locally called KP Onion in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, during the morning session of the House, V Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP had raised the issue.

"The government is seized of the matter. And, I would like to reassure the member and the entire House that we are considering the matter and very soon, maybe within a day or two, we will permit the export of onion from Andhra Pradesh," he said.

Reddy said the government has banned exports of onion to check prices.

"But, to ban export of KP Onion is not justified. It should be noted that there is a variety of onion called KP Onion grown in 5,000 acres on and around YSR Kadapa and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh," he said.

The YSRCP MP further said KP Onion is not for domestic use and it is grown exclusively for export purposes.

It is not used in kitchen due to its size and pungency. The onions are imported by Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore, he said.

The ban on KP Onion has adversely impacted thousands of farmers as they cannot sell this edible bulb in the domestic market.

The government should lift the ban on exports of KP Onion immediately as the shelf life of this variety of onion is fast running out, he said.

The Centre had banned export of onions from the country after prices of the kitchen essential started rising sharply. At one point, onion was selling at as high as Rs 160 kg and the government had to resort to imports.

However, prices have started falling following arrival of new crop and were selling in the range of Rs 40-60 a kilogram.

Meanwhile, Goyal also informed the House that the government has no plans to shift the principal bench of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) from Chennai.

He said that during the course of a hearing in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of India had expressed an opinion and a desire that the government should examine either shifting the principal bench from Chennai to some part of central India such as Nagpur, Jabalpur or Bhopal or setting up an additional bench.

"We are examining it and we are making every effort that we don't not shift the bench from Chennai, rather we will try and create an additional bench in one of the central parts of India.

"We will discuss it within the government and then put it up for final orders of the Supreme Court," said the commerce and industry minister.

Goyal was responding to Vaiko (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) who said the central government was proposing to shift or relocate the principal bench of the IPAB from Chennai.

He said there is huge pendency of cases before the IPAB not because of the location but due to inordinate delay in appointment of the chairperson and the technical members.

The Centre instead of proposing to shift the IPAB can establish benches at various other places in the country to maintain the regional balance and for the convenience of the litigants, he said.