The government has relaxed import norms till December 15 to facilitate the early shipment of onion to boost the domestic supply and check the retail prices of the key kitchen staple. The Union Consumer Affairs Ministry said it will also offload more onion from its buffer stock in the open market to contain price rise. An estimated Kharif crop of 37 lakh tonne is likely to start arriving in the Mandis that will give reprieve to the rising prices.
According to the ministry, a sharp spike in onion prices in the past 10 days by Rs 11.56/kg has taken the all-India retail price of the commodity to Rs 51.95/kg, which was 12.13 per cent higher than the last year's price of Rs 46.33/kg. The retail price of onion has shown a marked increase from August-end 2020, though the price level was below that of last year till October 18.
To facilitate import of onion, the ministry said the government has on October 21 relaxed the conditions for fumigation and additional declaration on Phytosanitary Certificate (PSC) under the Plant Quarantine Order (PQ), 2003 for import up to December 15, 2020. The Indian High Commissions have been instructed in the relevant countries to contact the traders to push for greater onion imports to the country.
In order to moderate prices, the ministry said that onion from the buffer stock is being released in a calibrated manner from the second half of September 2020 to major mandis, retail suppliers such as Safal, Kendriya Bhandar, and NCCF as well as state governments. It added that more will be done in the coming days.
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