India to export 99,150 tonnes of onions to Bangladesh, 5 countries

India has allowed export of 99,150 tonnes of onions to Bangladesh and five other countries.

State-owned National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) will be the agency for export of the onions to the six countries, an official statement said yesterday.

The five other countries are the UAE, Mauritius, Bhutan, Bahrain and Sri Lanka.

The statement, however, did not specify the quantity of onions to be exported to each of the six countries.

Export of onion from India is banned in general. However, the Indian government allows shipments of specified quantities to friendly countries on their requests.

On December 8 last year, India banned the export of onion, a politically sensitive commodity in that country. The ban was extended earlier this year.

India is now in the midst of marathon parliamentary elections which will end on June 1.

Onion export from India was prohibited last year to ensure adequate domestic availability and tame the prices against the backdrop of estimated lower Kharif and Rabi crops in 2023-24 as compared to previous year and increased demand in the international market, said the statement by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

NCEL, the agency for export of onion to the six countries, sourced domestic onions. The quota allocated for export to the six countries has been fixed as per requisition made by them.

As the largest producer of onion in India, Maharashtra state is the major supplier of onions sourced by NCEL for export.

Indian had also allowed the export of 2,000 tonnes of white onion cultivated specially for export markets in the Middle-East and some European countries. Being purely export-oriented, the production cost of the white onion is higher than other onions due to higher seed cost, adoption of good agricultural practice and compliance to strict maximum residue limits requirements.