Government bans onion export | Fusion - WeRIndia

The price of onions has been rising over the months. It has risen by almost 30 per cent and touched a new high in the last four years.

In this context, the government banned the exports of all varieties of onions on Sunday with immediate effect.

The export policy of onions has been amended from free to prohibited.

The heavy rains in most areas where onions are growing led to a severe shortage of onions in the market.

The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Sunday issued a notification which says that export of all varieties of onions has been prohibited until further orders from the government are given.

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan earlier in a series of tweets asked the state governments to buy onions from the central government so that their requirement would be fulfilled immediately.

He also said that a team has been sent to Maharashtra to improve the onion supplies to the market.

The team consists of two joint secretary-level officers to talk to the farmers, traders and transporters to evaluate the availability of onions and convince them to bring more onions to the market.

Some state governments including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Odisha, and Tripura have demanded more onions from the central government after the rise of onion prices.

They said that they need more stock to meet the needs of the people in their areas.

The minister in a tweet revealed that the government had sent 10 trucks of onions on Thursday and 5 trucks on Friday to Haryana.

The Delhi government had announced to sell onions at ₹23.90 per kg on Friday. People can buy them at ration shops as well as mobile vans.

The Delhi government has also asked for 4 trucks of onions from Saturday onward and the Centre is supplying the stock as per the need.

Image credit: India – Koyambedu Market – Onions 06 image by McKay Savage is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mckaysavage/3987043646