Decision on onion export ban next week: Pranab

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday assured that the issue of lifting of the ban on onion exports, as sought by Maharashtra farmers, would be decided next week, an official said today.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday assured that the issue of lifting of the ban on onion exports, as sought by Maharashtra farmers, would be decided next week, an official said on Saturday.

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The issue would be discussed in detail at the union cabinet meeting next Tuesday and a suitable decision shall be taken, the official said.

Mukherjee's assurance came during a meeting with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Mumbai, said the official from the chief minister's office.

Onion farmers have demanded that the recent ban imposed on onion exports should be lifted. They have been on strike in the state since the past eight days, Mukherjee was informed.

Chavan, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, other senior cabinet ministers and officials of the concerned departments informed Mukherjee that Maharashtra produced over one-third of the country’s onions while two-thirds of the total onion exported by India came from this state.