In view of the rising prices of onions in the country, the government has imposed an export duty of 40 percent on onions with immediate effect. Issuing a notification, the Union Finance Ministry said that this duty will remain in force till 31 December 2023. This duty has been imposed to improve the domestic availability of onions.

It has been said that by the month of September, the prices in the country are likely to go up to Rs 55-60 per kg. In the previous one week, an increase in onion prices has been observed in the country. According to media reports, the prices have increased by about 60 percent in the last one week.

In recent times, there has been a huge jump in the prices of onions. Till last week, the price of onion, which was being sold at Rs 25-30 per kg in major cities of the country, has now increased to Rs 40-45 per kg.

It is being told that despite having sufficient stock of onions in the country, this year due to prolonged high heat, the quality of poor-quality onions has been affected. Due to this good quality onion has become expensive.

According to the CNBC report, according to the Price Monitoring Department of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the wholesale price of onion in North India has increased by 1,000 per quintal this month. At the same time, experts say that the current increase in onion prices is due to lack of supply. The unseasonal rains in the month of April in the major onion-producing states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have affected the onion crop. Experts say that onion prices are likely to increase further in September.

In view of this, the Central Government had announced last Friday that it would intervene to control the prices. The Consumer Affairs Department had decided to release the stock from the onion buffer.