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Centre’s 40% duty on onion exports will harm farmers: Sharad Pawar
The central government’s 40% duty on onion export will harm farmers, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Sunday
The central government’s move to impose a 40% duty on onion exports will hurt farmers, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch Sharad Pawar said on Sunday, even as growers and traders held protests in Maharashtra.
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“Export allows farmers to earn some extra money. The latest decision to impose export duty will result in a fall in prices of onion in the domestic market,” said Pawar, who served as Union agriculture minister in the United Progressive Alliance government between 2004 to 2014.
At India’s largest onion trading market in Lasalgaon of Nashik district, farmers and traders staged a protest on Sunday, while at Rahuri agricultural produce market in Ahmednagar, farmers affiliated to the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana stopped auctioning of the commodity.
The Centre’s decision to impose additional duty will lead to a fall in the prices of onions in the retail market, farmers and traders said. Currently, onion is being sold between ₹30 to ₹40 per kilogram at the retail level, which has come down by around ₹10.
“There was no need for imposing export duty since the prices had come down in the past couple of days with prices in the wholesale market falling between ₹19 to ₹22 per kilo,” said Vikas Singh, an onion exporter in Nashik. “The decision is disturbing for India’s image as a reliable export nation.”
The state government will urge the Centre to remove the export duty on onion, said Dada Bhuse, Nashik district’s guardian minister— a minister in a state government assigned to oversee the development of a particular district. “After incurring losses for a long time, onion growers have now started making some money,” bhuse said. “The latest decision will adversely impact farmers.”
The move to impose the duty was to avoid a price rise similar to that of tomatoes, according to Bharati Pawar, junior health and family welfare minister at the Centre.
“There is no ban on export per se. The government has imposed some duties to prevent price rise similar to that of tomatoes,” she said. “At the same time, if there’s demand for onion within the country, prices won’t fall in the domestic market.” She will write to India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal to convey farmers’ sentiments, minister Pawar said.
For the past few months, tomato prices in the country have skyrocketed, reaching up to ₹160 per kilo in some markets. This prompted the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India to sell tomatoes at a retail price of ₹40 per kg.
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The duty on onion exports is aimed at controlling the produce from being sold outside India and curbing hoarding by traders when prices are rising, as per a Union finance ministry notification. The export duty comes amid reports that onion prices are likely to rise in September. Earlier on August 11, the central government started releasing the staple vegetable from its buffer stock.
“The central government had earlier decided it will maintain 3 lakh tonne of onions in the 2023-24 season as buffer stock. In 2022-23, the government maintained 2.51 lakh tonne onion as buffer stock. Buffer stock is maintained to meet any exigencies and for price stabilisation, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season,” said Chhagan Bhujbal, NCP leader (Ajit Pawar faction) and minister in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
