Onion export prohibited untill further notice to check soaring price

New Delhi, Oct 1 (KNN) The soaring prices of onion has not only forced small eateries and restaurants to cut down on the use of the vegetable, but it has also impacted food lovers and their kitchens who just can't have a bite or swallow the food without the later.

To control the increasing price and meet the domestic demand, the government has prohibited onion exports until further notice and imposed limits on the stocks that can be held to prevent hoarding.

Government sources said the States had been asked to take “strict measures to prevent hoarding by traders, including organising raids”.

“Export policy of onion for the item description at Serial Number 51 & 52 of Chapter 7 of Schedule 2 of ITC (HS) classification of Export & Import Items is amended from free to prohibited till further orders,” an official notification said. In other words, “export of all varieties of onions, as described above, is prohibited with immediate effect.”

According to the consumer affairs ministry's data, the retail onion price was ruling at Rs 60/kg in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow last week. It was being sold at Rs 58/kg in Mumbai and Rs 42/kg in Chennai. In Kanpur, onion prices were at Rs 70/kg and at Rs 80/kg in Port Blair.

To curb the prevailing situation, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday had announced that his government will be providing onions at Rs 23.90/kg in the national capital. The Aam Aadmi Party supremo flagged off mobile vans on Saturday to supply onions at the promised rate to the Delhiites.

On September 26, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, in a bid to contain the onion crisis, had asked the states to buy onions from Centre and asserted that their requirements would be fulfilled immediately.

"To augment onion supplies to the markets, a team of two joint secretary-level officers have been sent to Maharashtra to talk to the farmers, traders and transporters to assess the availability of onions and to persuade them to bring more onions to the market," Paswan said in a series of tweets.

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