India Permits 10,000 MT Onion Exports Each to Sri Lanka, UAE

India has approved the export of 10,000 metric tonnes of onion each to Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), through the National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) as per a notification released by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce, on Monday.

Additional Exports to UAE

This is an additional 10,000 tonnes of onion exports to the UAE, in addition to the exports of 24,400 tonnes earlier. The ban on onion exports was enforced on December 8, 2023, and was slated to last until March 31, 2024. 

Erratic weather patterns and supply-side problems led the government to impose limitations on onion exports throughout the financial year 2023-24. However, according to the DGFT notification, onion exports will only be permitted with approval from the central government, based on the requests made by other nations. 

To curb the rising onion prices, the central government initiated the release of onions from its reserve stock. Initially, the government had intended to maintain a buffer stock of 3 lakh tonnes of onions for the 2023-24 season, an increase from the 2.51 lakh tonnes reserved in the preceding 2022-23 season.

As per the recent data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation on Friday, retail inflation hit a 10-month low of 4.85% in March from 5.09% in the previous month with rural areas showing a consistently higher food inflation increase than urban areas.