Govt to import 25,000 tonnes onion, 30,000 tonnes potato before Diwali

Spurt in prices triggers move as norms for pulses are also eased

The Centre is planning to import 25,000 tonnes of onions and 30,000 tonnes of potatoes, and has also relaxed the norms for importing pulses to tide over the spurt in prices, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

In addition to the 30,000 potatoes to be imported without any license, the Central government in a late night notification also allowed import of another 1 million tonnes of potatoes at a concessional duty of 10 per cent before January 1, 2021.

The minister said about 7,000 tonnes of onion have already been imported from various countries, while another tranche of 25,000 tonnes is expected to arrive before Diwali. Orders have also been place for the import of 30,000 tonnes of potatoes from Bhutan, which will come in the next few days.

In all, there are plans to import about a million tonnes of potatoes over the the next few weeks.

Goyal added that the timeline for import of 400,000 tonnes of tur under the tariff rate quote has been extended till December 31, and that 10 per cent lower import duty on masur will also continue till the same period.

That apart, the Central government has extended the understanding with Mozambique to import 200,000 tonnes a year of tur and with Myanmar for 250,000 tonnes of urad, for another five years, to provide long-term stability to prices.

Goyal said the imports don’t contravene the government's commitment to become self-sufficient in pulses, as production has been growing at a healthy pace and the current steps are meant to control an extraordinary situation.

The minister said that the Cooperative Nafed will also start importing onion.

"Retail onion prices have been stable the past three days at Rs 65 per kg. The government has taken proactive measures to check price rise. Exports were banned timely and took steps for import," he added.

The government relaxed fumigation norms for import of onion till December. So far, 7,000 tonnes of onion have been imported by private traders, he said.

Goyal said potato prices have been rising and the all-India average retail price has been stable at around Rs 42 per kg for the past three days.

Kharif onion is expected to hit the mandis next month. Onion output from kharif and late kharif season is expected to be lower by 600,000 tonnes to 3.7 million tonnes in the current year.