NEW DELHI: Govt on Saturday lifted the ban on onion exports after five months, in a move that is likely to bring huge relief to
farmers
and
traders
in Maharashtra ahead of the remaining phases of
Lok Sabha polls
in this key producing state. But the move comes with conditions. Traders can ship out onion at a minimum export price (MEP) of $550/tonne and pay another 40%
export duty
on this price, which translates to Rs 64,000 per tonne or Rs 64 per kg.
The decision comes just before the next phases of polls, particularly in Maharashtra’s onion belts including Nasik, Ahmednagar and Shirdi. Onion growers in many parts of Maharashtra have been protesting against the export ban alleging it has hit their earnings as mandi prices at Lasalgaon are ruling around Rs 15/kg, which barely covers the cost of production.
Market players, however, said lifting the ban may not bring much benefit to traders. “The condition of 40% export duty on MEP will make it difficult to export onions,” said Jaydutt Holkar, director, Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Lasalgaon.
Govt officials said the decision was taken after assessing crop volume, arrival of onions at mandis, prevailing market conditions, and to avoid storage loss. Consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said estimated Rabi crop (2024-25), which has a share of around 60% of total annual onion output, is around 191 lakh tonnes. She said this is “reasonably comfortable” considering that monthly domestic onion consumption is around 17 lakh tonne.
“With a good Kharif prospect with ‘above-normal’ monsoon forecast, availability of onion is comfortable till arrivals of Kharif output. Since onion is a perishable crop, it has to be consumed either domestically or through export within 5-6 months of harvesting and holding on to Rabi stock beyond shelf life will only result in more storage loss,” she said. The secretary added that storage loss increases significantly after three months.
DGFT director general Santosh Kumar Sarangi said, “effectively” onion shipments are being allowed at a minimum price of $770 per tonne and added that MEP and export duty have been arrived at considering recent price trend of govt-to-govt supply and prevailing international price of kitchen staple.
Sources said availability of onion is expected to increase in international markets with removal of export ban by Egypt following a 300% rise in production and Pakistan too removing its export restrictions.
