The Centre on Saturday withdrew the 20 per cent duty on onion export, with effect from April 1, this year, which had been imposed earlier in September 2024. The Department of Revenue issued a notification in this regard. The government has taken measures to check exports by means of duty, minimum export price (MEP) and even to the extent of prohibiting export for almost five months from December 8, 2023, till May 3, 2024.
The export duty of 20 per cent, which now stands removed, has been in place since September 13, 2024. Despite export restrictions, the government said that the total onion export during 2023-24 was 17.17 lakh tonne and in 2024-25 (till March 18), it was 11.65 lakh tonne. Monthly onion export quantity had picked up from 0.72 lakh tonne in September 2024 to 1.85 lakh tonne in January, 2025.
"The decision stands as another testament to the government's commitment to ensuring remunerative prices to farmers while maintaining the affordability of onion to the consumers at this crucial juncture when both mandi and retail prices have softened following the expected arrival of rabi crops in good quantities," Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, said in a release.
Even though the current mandi prices are above the level during the corresponding period of previous years, a decline of 39 per cent is observed in the all-India weighted average modal prices, it stated.
Similarly, all-India average retail onion prices recorded a decline of 10 per cent over the past month. Onion arrival in benchmark markets Lasalgoan and Pimpalgaon have increased from this month.
As per the estimates of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, rabi production this year at 227 lakh metric tonnes is over 18 per cent higher than 192 lakh tonnes last year.
The rabi onion, which accounted for 70-75 per cent of India's total onion production, is crucial for overall availability and stability in prices till the arrival of the kharif crop from October/November onward. "The estimated higher production this season is expected to further ease the market prices in coming months," the Food Ministry said.
(With inputs from ANI)