India exported 2.6 lakh tonnes of onions in the first quarter of the current fiscal, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs- B L Verma informed the Lok Sabha. The government allowed the export with minimum export price (MEP) of USD 550 per tonne and an export duty of 40 per cent after it lifted the ban on its export in May, 2024, he said.
Verma said that till July 31, 2024, a total quantity of 2.60 lakh tonnes of onion had been exported. India had exported 16.07 lakh tonnes of onions in the last fiscal.
He also said that the government had procured 4.68 lakh tonne onion mostly from Maharashtra, through NCCF and NAFED, for the price stabilisation buffer. The price realisation by onion farmers in current year has been much higher compared to last year, he said.
The average monthly mandi modal prices of onion in Maharashtra between April and July, 2024 was in the range of Rs 1,230-Rs 2,578 a quintal against Rs 693-Rs 1,205 a quintal during the corresponding period last year, Verma said in a written reply. The average procurement price of onion for the buffer in the current year was Rs 2,833 per quintal, which is 64 per cent higher than the procurement price of Rs 1,724 per quintal last year.
India is a net exporter of onion and earns income from the export. The net export value earned by India for each of the last three years was Rs 3,326.99 crore in 2021-22, Rs 4,525.91 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 3,513.22 crore in 2023-24, the minister added.
