Onion exporters demand more quota for onions

According to a spokesperson of the APECC, the chamber had been persuing the matter with the Union government since early March as the earlier quota of one lakh tonnes had exhausted. He said that the fresh quota of 50,000 was too meagre to make any difference in the current glut situation.

He further stated that according to the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation the yield is expected to reach 47.5 lakh tonnes as against the domestic consumption of 39 lakh tonnes, leaving a surplus of 8.5 lakh tonnes. Moreover, the summer harvest has begun and the prices in the wholesale markets are around Rs 250 per quintal.

He has pointed out that Indian exporters had built up the export market of about five lakh tonnes annually over the past six decades particularly in the far East, Malaysia, Singapore, Gulf countries, Sri Lanka and Mauritius, but the ad hoc decisions of the central government had hampered exports.

Incidentally, the ministry of commerce had declared on April 13 that 50,000 tonnes of onions would be permitted for exports, but the notification came in the last week of April. Some exporters complained that they were losing their clients overseas because of the central government’s decision to ban exports and then regulate the volume of exports. For instance, an exporter from Vashi had demanded a quota of 5,000 tonnes but was given an NOC only for 75 tonnes.

The central government’s move to include the Bangalore Rose variety of onions from Karnataka and the Krishnapuram variety of onions from Andhra Pradesh in the OGL has annoyed exporters from Maharashtra. One exporter stated, "It is a political decision of the BJP led coalition government at the centre as it did not bother to provide any relief to onion growers from Maharashtra, which is the largest onion cultivating state in the country."