Centre bans export of onions with immediate effect to curb soaring price

New Delhi: Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Sunday amended export policy of onion from free to prohibited, which amounts to banning of all varieties of onions from export, with immediate effect.

In a notification issued today by Director-General of Foreign Trade, Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi announced an amendment in export policy of onions.

"Export policy of onion for the item description at Serial Number 51 & 52 of Chapter 7 of Schedule 2 of ITC (HS) classification of Export and Import Items is amended from free to prohibited till further orders", the notification reads.

The prohibition by the government comes amid rising prices of onions across the country.

On September 26, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had asked the states to buy onions from Centre and asserted that their requirements would be fulfilled immediately.

"To augment onion supplies to the markets, a team of two joint secretary-level officers have been sent to Maharashtra to talk to the farmers, traders and transporters to assess the availability of onions and to persuade them to bring more onions to the market," Paswan said in a series of tweets.