NEW DELHI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Indian government will allow export of onions from March 15, officials said Tuesday.
The decision made by the federal ministry of commerce and industry was aimed at helping farmers.
At present, the export of onions is banned in India.
"Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Department of Commerce has issued a notification in this regard. The notification says that onions, which were in the prohibited category as per the present policy, will be under the category free in the revised policy," reads a government order.
"The effect of the notification will be that the export of all varieties of onions has been made free without any condition of Letter Of Credit and Minimum Export Price, with effect from 15th March 2020."
India's federal commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said permission of exporting the onions was a step in the direction of farmers' welfare.
"This decision will help in increasing the income of farmers," he said.
The decision to lift nearly a six-month-old ban on export of onions has been taken as prices are likely to fall sharply due to bumper winter crop.
The ban on the export of onions was imposed after the prices of the commodity skyrocketed during the months of November and December last year. A kilogram of onion was priced at around 1.69 U.S. dollars.
Onions which form the main ingredient of Indian meal are otherwise sold at around 29 U.S. cents a kilogram.
To improve the availability of onions in the domestic market and maintain control on prices, India's federal ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution ministry had approved the import of 120,000 MT of onions through state-owned trading enterprise - Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC).
The decision made by the federal ministry of commerce and industry was aimed at helping farmers.
At present, the export of onions is banned in India.
"Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Department of Commerce has issued a notification in this regard. The notification says that onions, which were in the prohibited category as per the present policy, will be under the category free in the revised policy," reads a government order.
"The effect of the notification will be that the export of all varieties of onions has been made free without any condition of Letter Of Credit and Minimum Export Price, with effect from 15th March 2020."
India's federal commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said permission of exporting the onions was a step in the direction of farmers' welfare.
"This decision will help in increasing the income of farmers," he said.
The decision to lift nearly a six-month-old ban on export of onions has been taken as prices are likely to fall sharply due to bumper winter crop.
The ban on the export of onions was imposed after the prices of the commodity skyrocketed during the months of November and December last year. A kilogram of onion was priced at around 1.69 U.S. dollars.
Onions which form the main ingredient of Indian meal are otherwise sold at around 29 U.S. cents a kilogram.
To improve the availability of onions in the domestic market and maintain control on prices, India's federal ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution ministry had approved the import of 120,000 MT of onions through state-owned trading enterprise - Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC).
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