Govt to allow onion export from Mar 15

The government will allow export of onions from March 15 in the interest of farmers, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

The decision will help boost the income of farmers, the minister said in a tweet.

The government last week decided to lift nearly six-month-old ban on export of onions as prices are likely to fall sharply due to bumper rabi crop.

The ban was imposed after the prices of the commodity skyrocketed.

Now, onion prices have stabilised and there is bumper crop also.

Expected monthly harvest in March is over 40 lakh MT compared to 28.4 lakh MT last year, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had tweeted on Wednesday.

In September 2019, the government banned onion exports and also imposed a MEP of USD 850 per tonne. The move came after prices started skyrocketing due to supply-demand mismatch.

There was shortage of onion as kharif crop was adversely affected due to excess rains and floods in key producing states, including Maharashtra.

Currently, the arrival of rabi (winter) crop of onion has begun in small quantities and would increase from mid-March onwards.

Exports of onion are expected to arrest sharp the fall in domestic prices.