Informist, Saturday, May 4, 2024

NEW DELHI – The government today lifted the ban on onion exports, but imposed a minimum export price of $550 per tn with immediate effect, it said in an official notification. The move comes after the government on Friday had imposed a 40% duty on the export of the red bulb vegetable.

In December, the government had banned the export of onions till Mar 31 to check rising prices and to maintain adequate availability in domestic markets. However, in the last few months, the government has allowed some exports to specific countries.

On Apr 27, the government had allowed the export of 99,150 tn of onions to Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, Bahrain, Mauritius and Sri Lanka through National Cooperative Exports Ltd. Previously, it had also allowed onion exports of 10,000 tn to Sri Lanka and the UAE each, on Apr 16. Prior to that, the government had allowed the export of 24,400 tn of onions to the UAE. On Mar 4, it had permitted the export of 50,000 tn of onions to Bangladesh, and three days later, it allowed 550 tn of exports to Bhutan, 3,000 tn to Bahrain, and 1,200 tn to Mauritius through National Cooperative Exports.

Besides lifting the onion export ban, the government on late Friday also exempted import duty on desi chana till Mar 31, 2025. Furthermore, it has also extended the duty waiver on imports of yellow peas for shipments covered by the bill of entry issued on or before Oct 31.

Previously, the government had extended the exemption of duty on yellow pea imports till Jun 30. The decision to extend the period of duty-free imports of yellow peas comes at a time when production of tur has fallen, and availability of chana is also a matter of concern for the government. The country is expected to produce 3.3 mln tn of tur in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), largely unchanged from the previous year's output, according to the agriculture ministry's second advance estimate. However, traders expect production to be lower than the government's estimate. In 2021-22, India had produced 4.2 mln tn of tur. End

US$1 = 83.42 rupees

Reported by Sayantan Sarkar

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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