Govt cuts minimum export price of onions to US$400/ton

The Government hikes MEP to restrict exports and improve domestic supply.

The Government lowered the minimum export price (MEP) of onions to US$400 per tonne from US$700 a tonne.

“On Onion - decision taken on Thursday to reduce the Minimum Export Price (MEP) of onion from US$700 tonne to US$400 a tonne,” Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted.

MEP is the rate below which no traders are allowed to export. 

The Government hikes MEP to restrict exports and improve domestic supply.

In August, the Government had hiked onion MEP to US$700 per tonne, from US$425.

Sitharaman added that an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) would review the onion arrivals in mandis and their prices every two weeks.

“Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chaired the meeting. It was also attended by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Sitharaman. Detailed periodic assessments will be kept up,” she said.

Earlier this week, the Maharashtra government had asked the Centre to scrap MEP for onions to help boost exports after wholesale prices fell as low as INR 10 per kg.