Govt imposes minimum export price on onions

The government has fixed a minimum export price of US $85 per metric ton on onions in order to check exports and bring down the price in the domestic market.

New Delhi:With prices of onions seeing a surge for the past few weeks, the government on Friday imposed a minimum export price of US $85 per metric ton.

The move is expected to curb onion exports and bring down the price in the domestic market.

"The Union Government has decided that export of all varieties of onions shall be permitted only on Letter of Credit (LC) subject to minimum export price (MEP) of US $ 85 F.O.B. (freight on board) per metric ton until further orders", said a release by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution .

It said notification to this effect has been issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Friday.

The price of onions has been a politically sensitive issue. Three states - Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand are expected to go to the polls later this year.