Onion Price: Ban on onion export will not affect farmers, government told when prices will reduce
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Onion Price: To control the prices of onion in the domestic market, the export of onion has been banned by the Central Government. Along with this, cheap onions are being made available to the people at some centres. However, there is still no relief in prices in the market. Meanwhile, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said the government expects onion prices to come down to below Rs 40 per kg by January from the current average price of Rs 57.02 per kg. The government had last week banned the export of onion till March next year after the retail selling price of onion in the national capital crossed Rs 80 per kg and the prices in the mandis remained around Rs 60 per kg. When asked when onion prices are expected to come below Rs 40 per kg. In response he said that very soon… in January. Speaking on the occasion of ‘Deloitte Growth with Impact Government Summit’, he said that someone has said that the price will touch Rs 100 per kg. We said that it will never cross Rs 60 per kg. The all India average stood at Rs 57.02 per kg this morning and will not cross Rs 60 per kg.
Some traders were taking advantage of the difference in prices
Rohit Kumar Singh said that the export ban will not affect the farmers and it is a small group of traders who are taking advantage of the difference between the prices in the Indian and Bangladesh markets. Traders who were taking advantage of different prices will suffer losses. But Indian consumers will benefit from this. Onion inflation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been in double digits since July, reaching a four-year high of 42.1 percent in October. In this financial year, 9.75 lakh tonnes of onion was exported from the country between April 1 and August 4. The top three importing countries in terms of value are Bangladesh, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates. The government has taken several steps to control prices. A minimum export price (MEP) of US $ 800 per tonne has been imposed on onion exports from October 28 to December 31 this year. Also, in August, India had imposed 40 percent export duty on onion till December 31. Wholesale price inflation of vegetables declined to minus 21.04 percent in October. However, the annual price growth rate of onion remained at a high level of 62.60 percent this month.
Government trying to increase sugar production
According to TOI report, the government has moved to ban the use of sugarcane juice for ethanol with immediate effect in view of the shortfall in the total estimated production of sugar this year. This will also limit the diversion of sugar for ethanol production. Industry sources said that this step will increase the availability of additional sugar by about 18-20 lakh tonnes in the domestic market, which will help in curbing the rise in prices. As per the earlier plan, around 35 lakh tonnes of sugar diversion was estimated for ethanol production, but now with the restrictions, only 15-18 lakh tonnes of sugar will be diverted for the purpose. However, this is likely to impact the government’s ethanol blending programme, which is currently around 11.8%.
Government’s focus on purchasing maize
According to TOI report, government sources say that more focus will be given to procurement of maize to meet the demand, but it is economically unviable. Earlier, the government had stopped selling broken rice from FCI stock to grain-based distilleries. Uppal Shah, co-founder and CEO of Agrimundi.Live Research, said the government’s directive will ensure that there is enough sugar in the country to meet domestic consumption demand in view of low sugar production in the country. He said that going forward, it will be important to see how the ethanol blending target is met in the current season, with ethanol being supplied mainly from B-heavy jaggery, broken rice and maize.
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