The retail prices of onion have skyrocketed across the country due to disruption in supply following consistent rain in the onion growing belt across Maharashtra and Karnataka.
As prices of the onion continued to soar across the country, the Centre on Sunday banned the export of the commodity to increase its availability in the domestic market.
In a notification, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said it has amended export policy of onion from free to prohibited, which amounts to banning of all varieties of onions from export, with immediate effect.
"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 signed by Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Alok Vardhan, read.
It said as the effect of this notification, the export of all varieties of onions is prohibited with immediate effect.
DGFT is an arm of the commerce ministry which deals with exports and import related issues.
The prohibition by the government comes amid rising prices of onions across the country.
Earlier on September 13, the DGFT had imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $850 per tonne (Rs 59,900) to curb its shipments and help bring down rising domestic prices.
The retail prices of onion have skyrocketed across the country. In Delhi, where the price has reached Rs 60-80 per kg, the AAP government is selling onion at Rs 23.90 per kg through ration shops and mobile vans in the national capital from Saturday.
The reason for the abrupt hike is the disruption in supply due to consistent rain in the onion growing belt across Maharashtra and Karnataka.
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.
Paswan also issued a stern warning to hoarders and black marketers against stocking onions.
(With ANI inputs)
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 "A labourer rests beside onion sacks at a market in Dibrugarh, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019")
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