Govt imposes 40 per cent export duty on onions: Why are prices rising?
After a long slump, onion prices are again on the rise, causing concern for the central government. As a result, the Ministry of Finance imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions on Saturday (August 19). This led traders to close onion auctions indefinitely in Nashik district, Maharashtra.
Why are onion prices on the rise?
Prices of onions have seen a steep rise since the start of August. At Lasalgaon’s wholesale market in Niphad taluka of Nashik, the average price of the bulb has risen from Rs 1,370/quintal on August 1 to Rs 2,050/quintal on August 19. In contrast, back in March-May, onion growers faced financial distress, when their produce was sold between Rs 500/quintal and Rs 700/quintal.
The present price rise has two aspects to it: first is the shortage in stored produce; the second has to do with lower-than-expected acreage of the bulb itself. Unlike other vegetables such as okra or beans, onions are not grown around the year.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Friday launched a scathing attack at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, slamming it on issues ranging from the imposition of export duty on onions to the violence in Manipur and the alleged misuse of Central agencies against political opponents.
Addressing a rally in Kolhapur, the home district of rebel NCP leader Hasan Mushrif who joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2, Pawar said onion farmers in the state are not getting the right price for their efforts.
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"They need to get the amount spent by them on growing the crop. If that has to happen, onions have to be exported across the world. (But) the Modi government has imposed a steep duty of 40 per cent and after that Indian onions do not get customers. This led to the fall in the price of onions," Pawar said.
Pawar said, as agriculture minister (in the Congress-led UPA government between 2004 and 2014) he never imposed export duty on onions and ensured the crop was exported.
"The government's stand is to create hindrances to whatever the farmers produce," Pawar said. (PTI)
Days after residents staged protests in demand of the construction a 90-feet road connecting Chandivali to Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced that the work on the project is slated to commence soon.
According to officials, the work on the project will be undertaken in two phases. While the first phase involves completion of road works at Nahar site, construction work will be taken up on the site owned by the Shipping Corporation of India in the second phase.
The land parcel on which the Shipping Corporation of India is located is under the Union government. In a bulletin released Friday, the civic body said the process of acquiring the land from them is underway.
The 90-feet-road is proposed to be 800 metres long and once operational, will bring huge relief to Chandivali residents from traffic woes.
Apart from infrastructure projects, the Maharashtra government is looking forward for partnership with Japanese companies to promote technology and content in Bollywood. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday held a meeting with Shiro Kambe, senior vice president of Sony Group Corporation at the Sony Headquarters in Minato City, Tokyo.
While revealing that Sony has shown interest in increasing technology and contest business in India, Fadnavis said, “I have extended an invitation to Sony Group Corporation to invest and collaborate with Bollywood which has an immense potential, talent in creative and animation segments.” According to Fadnavis, “Kambe indicated that Sony wants to expand its research activities in India and is positive about Mumbai.” Whereupon, Fadnavis said, “I appealed to him (Shiro Kambe) to come to explore collaboration with IIT Bombay which is India’s premier institute in Computer Science.” Read more
Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) for 5 districts of the Konkan region were approved by the Centre today. These 5 districts are Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Thane & Palghar. In November 2022, in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra government had approved the Coastal Zone Management Plan. According to the new Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) rules, the restriction on development in creek, river and stream areas has been reduced from 100 metre to 50 metre from the high tide line in a bid to boost development to promote tourism as well as benefit the locals.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress has formed several committees to plan various aspects of the meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA on August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai.
Sources on Friday said the committees, which include two leaders from each of the three parties, will take care of media, social media, accommodation, transport among other things.
The Congress will handle media and publicity, while the Nationalist Congress Party will take care of transport.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) will look after accommodation, they said, adding that more than 200 rooms have been booked in Grand Hyatt hotel, which will be the venue for the two day meet.
The management is being supervised by Congress leaders Milind Deora, Naseem Khan and Varsha Gaikwad, while former Maharashtra chief minister and senior leader Ashok Chavan will be overall in charge of the organising committee, they said. (PTI)
The Palghar Zilla Parishad has submitted a proposal of Rs 354.79 crore for road connectivity in the district, an official said on Friday.
The plan was drawn up after a pregnant woman died while en route to the health centre in Mokhada recently, ZP public relations official Shraddha Gharat said.
A ZP release said a survey has been undertaken in 164 hamlets for the connectivity proposal.
"There is a need to construct 140 roads so that all these villages can be connected. Work in one of the 164 villages has been completed," the official said. (PTI)
A magistrate's court in Mumbai denied permission for subjecting dismissed RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, accused of shooting four persons dead on a moving train, to narco tests has said in its reasoning that to remain silent is an accused person's fundamental right.
An accused can not be forced to undergo such tests only for the sake of "smooth investigation," the court said in the order passed on August 11. The full order became available on Friday.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) had sought the Borivali magistrate court's nod for subjecting Chaudhary to narco tests, brain mapping and polygraph.
He is currently in judicial custody, lodged in a jail in neighboring Thane district. (PTI)
A drought-like situation similar to the one witnessed in 2014 is prevailing in six out of eight districts of Maharashtra's Marathwada region, state agriculture minister Dhananjay Munde said on Friday.
Munde took a review meeting of water availability, crops and cattle fodder in the eight districts of Marathwada and said a policy decision needs to be taken on relief for farmers by way of part crop insurance pay out since automated machines are creating a hurdle while measuring the gap between two spells of rain.
"Six districts may face drought this year. Only Hingoli and Nanded districts in Marathwada have received average seasonal rainfall so far. There is provision to give 25 per cent crop insurance amount to farmers if there is a rain gap of 21 days," he said.
"However, automated machines will count even negligible rainfall of 2-2.25 mm during the day and the chain of (21) dry days breaks. This break in the chain is creating hurdles in giving part of the crop insurance amount to farmers," he said.
Munde said the relief and rehabilitation minister has been requested to meet concerned ministers at the Centre to find a way out on this issue. (PTI)
Twenty four out of 28 dams in Maharashtra's Raigad district have overflowed so far this monsoon season, an official said on Friday.
According to the district revenue department, the total water storage in all the reservoirs in the district is at 94.9 per cent.
The district has so far received 2510.8 mm rainfall, which is 81.6 per cent of its average annual rainfall, the release stated.
The district had recorded 95.7 per cent of the average rainfall during this time in 2022, it stated. (PTI)
Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis met Mr. Kojun Nishima, President of Sumitomo Group in Tokyo, Japan today. Tweeting about the meeting, he said that Nishima san is amazed by the rapid transformation of Mumbai and wants actively contribute towards the development of ‘third Mumbai’ in the MTHL influence zone. He also invited Sumitomo Group to collaborate with MIDC in development of the Japanese Industrial Park at Supa in Ahmednagar and 'help attract more Japanese businesses there'.
For the first time in August, Mumbai received double-digit rain on Wednesday, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that Mumbai and neighbouring districts are likely to experience moderate rain from Thursday to August 28.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the island city recorded 11.36 mm of rain, followed by 17 mm in the eastern suburbs, while 14.5 mm was recorded in the western suburbs.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sunil Kamble, director of IMD Mumbai, said, “As of now, the monsoon trough is in the Himalayas, due to which rainfall has been light throughout August. We can expect heavier rain when the trough moves downwards.” Read more
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday said the Union government has taken all necessary steps to ensure that onion farmers do not face any problems.
He was replying to reporters' questions about protests against the 40 per cent export duty on onions and NCP chief Sharad Pawar's statement that the export duty was never so high when he was agriculture minister.
"I do not want to talk about what Pawar should have given and what he gave to the state as agriculture minister.....deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in spite of being in Japan, kept a close tab on the onion issue. Union minister Piyush Goyal is keeping an eye on it....The Union government has made all the preparations so that farmers do not face any troubles. You will see that soon," Bawankule said. (PTI)
An offence has been registered against two persons for allegedly storing hazardous chemicals without permits at warehouses in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.
A case under section 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Manufacture Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals and Petro Chemicals Act has been registered against the owner and manager of the warehouses, assistant police inspector Sharad Pawar of the Narpoli police station said.
The accused Nagendra Kunwar (62), owner and Dinesh Kumar Singh (52), manager of the Narchar Logistic Services had allegedly stored chemicals worth more than Rs 93 lakh illegally without taking necessary precautions, he said. (PTI)
The civic body in Maharashtra's Thane city has warned of action against engineers involved in the repairs of school buildings in the city for slow place of work, an official said on Friday.
Thane Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bhangar has issued show cause notices to engineers and warned of disciplinary action against them, the official said.
As per a release, Rs 15 crore were sanctioned for repairing 34 school buildings, of these, work in only five schools has been completed so far.
The work is being carried out at a slow pace in the some schools, while the repairs have not even begun in 12 such buildings, the release stated. (PTI)
'Those who opted to go a different way were given a chance in 2019 after the morning swearing-in. Chances should not be sought repeatedly and chances should not be given repeatedly,' Sharad Pawar when asked if Ajit will be accommodated in the party if he returns. With this statement, NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar indirectly closed a door on the question of Ajit Pawar's return in the Nationalist Congress Party(NCP).
'I have not said that Ajit Pawar is our leader. When did I say it? Did I? If Supriya has said it, it is maybe because she is the younger sister of his and nobody should try and find politics in it,' Sharad Pawar said in Satara's Dahiwadi while speaking to media. This comes a day after NCP working president Supriya Sule also said that there was no split in the party and that the BJP had only managed to get some of the party MLAs in the ruling alliance.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday said the Narendra Modi government can send a mission to the Sun, but it should first focus on the onion issue in the country or else the ruling party will not even not realise that their 2024 Lok Sabha endeavour will go haywire.
In an editorial in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, the party slammed the Centre's decision to impose 40 per cent export duty on onion.
"The people (of the country) are being engaged in new missions like Moon Mission, Sun Mission and Venus Mission. Mission Sun is all fine, but it is very much essential that the onion issue in the state stabilises," the editorial said.
Nashik, Ahmednagar and Pune districts of Maharashtra are known for their onion produce. A section of farmers have been protesting against the Centre's decision to impose a 40 per cent import duty on onion.
"You do send a mission to the Sun, but before that you should ensure the onion issue is settled or else your mission to 2024 (Lok Sabha polls) will go haywire and you will not even realise it," he said. PTI
The Shiv Sena (UBT), the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) partner in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, has raised concerns over NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s statements on Ajit Pawar being a party leader, saying that this was creating confusion in the minds of party workers and people in the state. READ the full story.
"Even BJP believes there is no split in NCP.," says senior BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.
"Sharad Pawar's statement on Ajit Pawar seems to be the trailer of Ajit Pawar Returns - Part 2. Sharad Pawar has clarified that he will not join hands with the BJP and he is firm with INDIA. the statement today is an indication that BJP is set to learn yet another lesson in politics." Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said today.
Police received a threat call today about a bomb on a flight at the Chhatrapati Shivaji airport in Mumbai, police officials said. The caller turned out to be a 10-year-old boy from Satara, Maharashtra.
Reacting to Sharad Pawar's statement, Shiv Sena UBT MLC and opposition leader in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, said: 'There is no doubt that such statements by Sharad Pawar are creating confusion in the minds of workers and people of the state. If he is saying that Ajit Pawar is their leader who is now in NCP then of course there is a confusion about his stand too.'
'As some people left our party and betrayed us. We call them traitors. The same thing happened in NCP, some people have left the party by indulging in anti-party activity so that is also betrayal. They(NCP) may not consider it as traitors, but we consider those who left Sena as traitors only,' he said.
"I personally feel that the issue(of split in NCP) has gone to the Election Commission and such statements are being made to safeguard the party's name and poll symbol and the constitution," Danve added.
Interestingly, in the case of Shiv Sena none of the factions had accepted that there was a split in Shiv Sena. In the state legislative assembly also none of the factions have ever made a representation stating that they are separate groups.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) national president Sharad Pawar said on Friday that his nephew Ajit Pawar is still their party leader and that there was no split in the party. Pawar’s remark came a day after his daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule made a statement along the same lines. Read the full report here.
“The party has not split at all, some took different decision of going with the BJP. We have complained to the Speaker of the Assembly for action. There is no split in the NCP. The chief of NCP is Sharad Pawar and the state unit chief is Jayant Patil. This is the reality and status of the party. NCP does not have any kind of alliance with BJP,” said Sule a day before NCP patron Sharad Pawar made a similar statement in Baramati.
Over a month after Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and joined the BJP camp, NCP party patron Sharad Pawar continues to maintain in an attempt says that there is no conflict between them and his nephew Ajit Pawar and he remains to be their leader.
Sharad Pawar also denied a split in the party and said that a split happens when a major chunk of the party steps out at the national level. PTI
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has said the 40 per cent duty on onion export must be revoked, and also claimed that the Union government might impose restrictions on sugar exports too.
Speaking at an event in Purandar tehsil of Pune district on Thursday, the former Union agriculture minister said it was the government's responsibility to ensure a fair price for onions.
"For the last few days, farmers in the Nashik region are protesting...they are demanding fair prices for their onion produce. Onions from the country are exported, but the government has imposed a 40 per cent duty on the export. It is the responsibility of the government to give a fair price to onion growers considering the input cost and it is farmers' right to demand it, but no concrete decision has been taken," he said. PTI
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar is a “seasoned leader” who will soon acknowledge Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat, according to Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday.
Speaking at a media interaction in Nagpur, Bawankule said a leader of Pawar’s stature can play important role in the making of the 21st century India.
Read more
The Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has summoned Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Zone-2, Ramakant Biradar for questioning in connection with an FIR the agency has filed to probe alleged irregularities involved in purchasing body bags for the deceased Covid-19 patients. Biradar, who was in charge of the civic body’s central purchase department during the pandemic, was summoned to remain present before EOW on Friday. Read to know the full story
Saket bridge on the Nashik-bound lane of Mumbai-Nashik highway to undertake urgent structural repair work.
A part of the 96m-long span of the two-lane bridge over Thane creek has worn out and needs repairs so traffic will have to be halted for 10 days.
“Heavy vehicles coming from Mumbai to Nashik will have to be routed via Airoli-Shilphata and JNPT-bound traffic from Ghodbunder road will be diverted from Majiwada to Airoli. We may allow light vehicles in a single lane after consultation with engineers,” said Vinay Rathod, DCP, traffic Thane. A final route notification will be released Thursday.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted water supply in the pockets in Andheri (west) where the supply was affected due to a pipeline burst on Wednesday.
The incident was reported around 3pm on Wednesday and videos surfaced on social media showing water gushing out, rising to around 50 metres.
On December 18 last year, an elderly couple was found dead at their residence in Aurangabad’s Paithan town. The local police found Bhimrao Kharnal, 65, and his wife Shashikala, 60, had been strangled to death and that some of the jewellery owned by the woman was also missing from the house.
Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of a robbery gone wrong, and the police registered a murder case and began their investigation without any lead.
Read the full story here
WITH RAIN playing truant at the peak monsoon season, water storage in 964 dams in Marathwada region is just 31.62 per cent of its full capacity. In actual terms, water in these dams is collectively only 22,94,970 million litres as against their maximum capacity of 72,58,830 million litres. A year ago, during the same period on August 23, water level in dams across Marathwada region comprising eight districts recorded 72.18 per cent. Read more
As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) argued it was “not feasible to change” the layout of the Mumbai Coastal Road (South) at this stage, with nearly 80 per cent of the project work being complete, the Bombay High Court questioned the petitioner if it could consider ‘technical’ issues related to the coastal road’s design.
BMC has filed an affidavit in reply to a PIL by city-based architect Alan Abraham, seeking changes to the proposed design on land filling portion of the Mumbai Coastal Road (South) over 6.7-km stretch between Priyadarshini Park and the Worli end of Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), in a bid to create more accessible open spaces without fundamentally altering the project. Read more
In the wake of rain deficit and water shortage in Maharashtra, Opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule on Thursday demanded that the state government should declare drought in Maharashtra. "Maharashtra has not witnessed expected rains in the months of June and July. The rains are less than 68% of the average, while in August till now, the rains are less than 80% of the average. Majority of the places have not witnessed rains. This is a terrible situation and farmers will lose their crops," Sule tweeted, adding that these farmers must get benefits of the crop insurance.
Sule said that the state government must declare drought in the state. "The government must take precautions and ensure that drinking water tankers, fodder camps and other drought related works should be undertaken at the earliest," she tweeted.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, "Shiv Sena ( UBT) Uddhav Thackeray will be left with just four to five MLAs by 2024." Bawankule added, "NCP president Sharad Pawar will sooner or later realise that PM Narendra Modi's Atma Nirbhar Bharat agenda is for the country."
The auction of onions at APMCs in Lasalgaon in Nashik district resumed on Thursday after the government reassured to address their demands. Union Minister Bharati Pawar held discussion with Nashik traders and farmers unions on Wednesday. Bharati Pawar who represents Dindori Lok Sabha constituency said she will convey Nashik Onion Traders Association's demands to union minister Piyush Goyal.
The Nashik District Onion Traders Association, various farmers organizations and APMCS had gone on indefinite strike since Sunday to protest against the Centre's decision to impose 40 per cent duty on onion export.
Health services, including treatment, in all government hospitals in Maharashtra falling under the public health department's jurisdiction have been made available free of cost for patients, the state government has said.
Medical tests, treatment and all other services provided on public-private partnership, excluding blood supply, are available free of cost to patients from August 15, said a government resolution (GR) issued on Wednesday.
The decision to provide free treatment and other health services at all government hospitals in Maharashtra was taken by the state cabinet in its meeting on August 3. (PTI)
Ahead of Ganeshotsava, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to conduct a drive to fix potholes on several major and minor roads — which records heavy influx of devotees and vehicles during the festival — across Mumbai.
BMC officials said that a map of the route — via which organisers take out processions during arrival and immersion ceremonies — will be drafted, and based on this, the pothole filling work will be taken up on war footing. BMC in July this year floated a Rs 36-crore tender for filling potholes across the city. Read more
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