The Centre on Saturday imposed a 40 per cent duty on the export of onion till December 31 in an attempt to rein in the rising prices in the domestic market, news agency PTI quoted a government notification.
“Government imposes 40 per cent duty on onion exports till December 31,” the notification released by the government stated.
The hike in export duty comes amid reports that onion prices are likely to rise in September.
On Saturday, the national average price was ₹30.72 per kilogram, with a maximum price of ₹63 per kilogram in Champhai in Manipur and a minimum of ₹10 per kilogram at Neemuch and Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh. “This notification shall come into force with immediate effect, and will remain in force up to and inclusive of the December 31, 2023,” a gazette notification of the Union Finance Ministry’s Revenue Department said. NCP leader and MP Supriya Sule questioned the move and urged the Centre to ensure remunerative prices for onion farmers.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said the decision was taken in order to increase the availability of onions in the domestic market especially in view of the upcoming festival season. “It was also being noticed that there was a sharp rise in exports in the recent past,” he told The Hindu. He added that the Centre auctioned two truckloads, each with 30 metric tonnes of onion, in Azadpur market here and the NAFED auctioned three truckloads. He said the Centre, at a rate of ₹23 per kilogram and ₹22.5 per kilogram, plans to offload at least five truckloads per day in the coming week.
On August 11, the central government started releasing onion from its buffer stock, news agency ANI reported.
The government had decided it will maintain 3 lakh tonne of onions in the 2023-24 season as buffer stock. In 2022-23, the government maintained 2.51 lakh tonne onion as buffer stock.
Buffer stock is maintained to meet any exigencies and for price stabilisation, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season.
Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary Food and Public Distribution Department in a meeting on Thursday with the Managing Directors of the government’s agricultural marketing agencies — National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) — finalised the modalities for disposal.