Letter Asking Permission to Import Onions till Eid

The Commerce Ministry has sent a letter to the Agriculture Ministry seeking import permission (IP) of onions till the upcoming holy Eid-ul-Fitr to keep the market stable.

A letter in this regard has been sent to the Agriculture Secretary on Sunday (March 27).

The letter said that the market price has been more stable in recent times as the IP issue of onion is ongoing till March 29. If the IP is not issued after March 29, the market is likely to become volatile again. Therefore, on the occasion of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, it is necessary to continue the IP issue till Eid-ul-Fitr to keep the supply chain of onions dynamic.

The letter requested that necessary steps be taken to continue the IP issue till Eid-ul-Fitr.

It is known that onion is an essential perishable product dependent on partial import. There is a demand of about 2.5 million tons of onion in the country. Of this, the demand during the month of Ramadan is about four to four and a half lakh tons. About six to seven lakh tonnes of onions have to be imported without loss of storage and processing. The product market has been volatile several times in the recent past.