The export duty comes amid reports that onion prices are likely to rise in September.
“To improve the domestic availability of onions, government imposes 40% export duty on onions with immediate effect upto December 31, 2023,” the finance ministry said in a notification.As per the data maintained by the consumer affairs ministry, the all-India average retail price of onion was ruling at Rs 30.72 per kg on Saturday, with a maximum price at Rs 63 per kg and a minimum at Rs 10 per kg.
In Delhi, onion was ruling at Rs 37 per kg on Saturday, as per the data. The trade data showed onion prices ruling at Rs 50 per kg in the national capital.
Earlier government had announced to release 3 lakh tonnes of onion from its buffer stock to increase availability.
In the 2022-23 fiscal, the government had maintained 2.51 lakh tonnes of onion as buffer stock. The buffer stock is maintained under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to meet any exigencies, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season.
Onion that is procured for the buffer stock is from the just completed rabi season. Presently, the kharif onion sowing is underway and its arrival begins in October.
Meanwhile, the consumer affairs ministry is also trying a technology for storage of onions with the Department of Atomic Energy and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
In 2022-23, the government had procured a record 2.51 lakh metric tonnes of onions from Rabi-2022 crop under the PSF and released it in major consumption centres during September 2022 and January 2023.
Rabi onion harvested during April-June accounts for 65 per cent of India’s onion production and meets consumers’ demand till the Kharif crop is harvested in October-November. The procured buffer stocks are usually released through targeted open market sales and also to states and Union territories and government agencies for supplies through retail outlets during the lean supply season.
Watch Government imposes 40% export duty on onion to curb rising prices in domestic market