Amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha election, the government has lifted the ban on onion exports on Saturday. Thus, bringing a huge relief to Maharashtra’s traders.
As per the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the MEP (Minimum Export Price) for onions has been fixed at $550 per tonne.
This development occurs at a time when onion traders and farmers have consistently opposed the ban, arguing that lifting it would help farmers in receiving right prices. However, the government, until today, had not acted on it due to concerns over a potential increase in domestic prices.
But despite putting onions on prohibited category, the government has allowed limited exports on the request of certain countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE.
Besides onion, the government has also exempted the ‘desi chana’ from import duty till March 2025. Further, the government has also extended the yellow peas imports, for which the bill’s entry was issued on or before Oct 31, 2024.
The reason for this exemption is that over the past month, the prices of chana have increased by around 10%, reaching approximately Rs 6,300 per quintal in Delhi, compared to Rs 5,700 last month.
As a result, government is closely monitoring the food prices to make sure the prices don’t rise during election times.