When defending the government move to ban onion exports, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Singh told that the Centre had to intervene and fix the minimum export price (MEP) to $800 as data showed an upward trend. Markets in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, sri lanka and the Maldvies have reported steep price hikes in the wake of the ban till march 31, 2024 announced by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on december 8. india had introduced an MEP of $800 per tonne on onion exports on october 28 this year.
Singh denied that the export ban would lead to the interests of farmers being compromised. “We continue to procure onions from farmers. In fact, we have asked both the agencies (NAFED and NCCF) to be more aggressive. However, procurement is at a slow pace as Kharif arrival is slow”.
The onion buffer has a sanction of 7 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT), of which, a little over 5 LMT has already been procured. Out of the 5 LMT buffer, around 3 LMT have already been disposed of in wholesale as well as retail markets to cool inflationary trends. However, the consumer affairs secretary said “if there is a need, the group of ministers can give the go ahead to procure more. This figure (1 LMT buffer) should not deter you because we are buying more and more (onions). In fact, the minister has directed that you should buy more (onions) aggressively”.
He also rubbished the questions regarding delay in government decisions. “If we had not taken steps on time, the prices would have touched Rs 100 on november 30. We were told by analysts, who came to our office three weeks ago, that the prices will not touch Rs 100.” The government procures less than 3% of the total onion production. “It is just messaging that if you don’t behave, we have stuff to intervene. We don’t buy 25%. We cannot buy 25%,” Singh said. The estimated production of onions during 2022-23 was around 318 LMT, surpassing last year’s production of 316.98 LMT.
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