India relaxes ban on onion exports, allows shipments to 6 neighbouring countries including UAE

The Indian government has allowed exports of onions, mainly sourced from Maharashtra, to six countries including the UAE and Bhutan despite the ban on shipments.

The government has “allowed export of 99,150 tonnes of onion to six neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, UAE, Bhutan, Bahrain, Mauritius and Sri Lanka,” the ministry of consumer affairs, food & public distribution said in a statement.

Additionally, New Delhi has also allowed exports of 2,000 tonnes of white onion cultivated, especially, for export markets in the Middle East and some European countries. 

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On December 8, 2023, the Indian government had banned export of onions. 

The ban on export of onions was imposed to ensure adequate domestic supply against the backdrop of estimated lower Kharif and Rabi crops in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. 

The National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the agency for the export of onion to these countries, sourced the domestic onions to be exported through e-platform at L1 prices.

NCEL has supplied to the agency or agencies nominated by the government of the destination country at the negotiated rate on a 100 per cent advance payment basis.

“As the largest producer of onion in the country, Maharashtra is the major supplier of onions sourced by NCEL for export,” the statement said. 

“Being purely export-oriented, the production cost of the white onion is higher than other onions due to higher seed cost, adoption of good agricultural practice (GAP) and compliance to strict maximum residue limits (MRL) requirements,” the statement added.

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The procurement target for onion buffer out of Rabi crop 2024 under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) of the Department of Consumer Affairs has been fixed at 5 lakh tonnes this year.

The central agencies, such as NCCF and NAFED are tying up with local agencies such as FPOs/FPCs/PACs to support the procurement, storage and farmers registration to begin the procurement of any store-worthy onion.