New Delhi: The central government has decided to remove the 20 per cent export duty on onions which was imposed in September 2024. The change is set to take effect from April 1, 2025. The Department of Revenue announced the decision following a recommendation from the Department of Consumer Affairs.
To ensure enough onions were available in the country, the government had imposed export restrictions, including duties, a minimum export price (MEP), and even a temporary export ban from December 8, 2023, to May 3, 2024.
The 20 per cent export duty which has now been removed was in place since September 13, 2024. Despite these restrictions, onion exports remained high with 17.17 lakh tonnes exported in 2023-24 and 11.65 lakh tonnes shipped in 2024-25 (as of March 18).
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 affordability of onion to the consumers at this crucial juncture when both mandi and retail prices have soften following 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 corresponding period of previous years, a decline of 39 per cent is observed in the all-India weighted average modal prices, the release said. Similarly, all-India average retail onion prices recorded declined of 10 per cent over the past one month.
Onion arrival in benchmark markets Lasalgoan and Pimpalgaon have increased from this month. As per the estimates of Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, rabi production this year at 227 lakh metric tonnes is over 18 per cent higher than 192 lakh tonne 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 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 ANI Inputs)