Govt ban Export of Onion to bring down prices

The government on Monday decided to suspend onion exports till January 15 following skyrocketing prices at around Rs 60-70 a kilo due to "hoarding and speculation". Agriculture cooperative major Nafed, which along with 12 other agencies regulates onion exports, have been asked to stop giving fresh clearance to exporters from Tuesday morning till January 15 next year. "There will be voluntarily suspension of issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) by NAFED, NCCF and other STEs for exports", an official statement said.
It said NAFED and NCCF (National Consumer Cooperative Federation ) will sell onion at cheaper rates from tomorrow through their retail outlets. The government has more than doubled minimum export price (MEP) to USD 1,200 per tonne from USD 525 for exporters who have already got no objection certificates (NOC). "The NOCs which have already been issued till today will be effected only on USD 1200 per tonne cost and freight," the statement added. Asked about the reasons for the sharp rise in onion prices, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said: "price rise is because of hoarding. There is enough stock of onion in the country". However, traders in Delhi's main wholesale market at Azadpur said the rise in prices were due to shortage of supply from the main producing regions.