India Fixes The Export Price Of Onion

The Indian government has set a minimum price limit for onion exports to Bangladesh. The country has now doubled the export price of onion to 800 dollars per ton.

A notification in this regard was issued on Saturday (October 28) from the office of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the country. This decision is effective from yesterday Sunday (October 29). The notification said that this directive will be effective till December 31.

Onion prices have suddenly gone up due to recent floods in several states of India along with low yields. The government has made a decision to export onions to reduce the price in the domestic market.

According to a report in the Times of India, the central government of India has fixed the minimum export price to maintain the supply and price due to the increase in onion prices in the country's market. If the price of onion is 800 dollars per ton, its export price will be 67 rupees per kg. In some markets within the country, onion prices have gone up to 80 rupees per kg.

According to the instructions, onions can be exported in any quantity to any country in the world. There is no restriction on this. But in the case of export, a minimum of 800 dollars per ton of onion should be taken, not less. Shipping and insurance costs are not included in this price.

Earlier, the central government of India imposed a 40 percent duty on onion exports. Then there was dissatisfaction among the traders. They even went on strike. In this again the minimum price of export is fixed.

According to the Indian government, the stock of onions is less than normal.

Early in the year, untimely rains and hailstorms destroyed nearly 40 percent of the onion stocks. Onion production has also decreased overall this year. Onion was produced in 2.53 lakh hectares of land in India last year. But this year the onion cultivation area has decreased to 2.31 lakh hectares. However, this minimum price shall not apply to onions brought to the port for customs clearance before the issuance of this notification.

Tomato prices in India skyrocketed due to heavy rains this year. Now if the price of onion increases, it will have an impact on poll politics. On the other hand, while keeping the price of onion low, the government has to deal with farmers' anger if they do not get the right price.

Analysts say that due to this two-pronged problem, the Modi government has taken a policy of balancing between buyers and farmers at the same time. That is, buying onion from the farmers at a high price and selling it at a low price in the country market. The subsidy required for that will be borne by the central government.

Meanwhile, Indian onions have not come through Benapole port after August 23. As a result, the price of onion has increased several times in the market. In a span of two days, onion is being sold at Tk 110 to Tk 120 per kg, increasing from Tk 80.

However, port director Abdul Jalil said that he has not received any official letter regarding the increase in onion export price from India.