Traders fear ban on exports as onion price jumps to four-year high

Last week's measures to curb prices, such as the levy of MEP and permission for duty-free import failed to curb the price rise

With the price of onion rising almost 30 per cent in two days, to touch the the highest since September 2015, traders fear the government will move swiftly to ban exports. Last week’s measures to curb prices, such as the levy of minimum export price (MEP) and permission for duty-free import failed to curb the price rise.

When onion shot up to Rs 32 a kg on September 13 in the benchmark Lasalgaon mandi, Asia’s largest market yard for the bulb, the government imposed an MEP of $850 a tonne and allowed duty-free imports of 2,000 tonnes of the vegetable. Since