Dhaka Bureau: State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu said that 50 thousand tons of onion will start coming from India this week. Our aim is that before the holy month of Ramadan, consumers do not have to buy daily necessities at high prices.
He gave this information while addressing the journalists after the event organized by the Association of Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs Bangladesh (AGWB) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center on Saturday, March 2. The Minister of State held a meeting with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, at the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Abu Dhabi.
Bringing up the topic of the meeting, the state minister said there was a meeting with the commerce minister of India at the WTO. He (Piyush Goyal) sat there and was instructed to issue the letter. The letter has been issued. We have received a copy of the letter. We got the letter yesterday.
It should be noted that, compared to previous years, the price of onions in the country has increased a lot this season. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), on March 1, the price of onion at the consumer level reached Tk 120 per kg, which is Tk 35 higher than the same date last year. According to the data, the current price of domestic onion is 171.42 percent higher than the same period last year.
Bangladesh’s onion market became volatile after the Indian authorities imposed a ban on onion exports. On December 8, 2023, India imposed a ban on onion exports until March 31 of this year. Earlier on October 28, 2023, India imposed a 40 percent export duty on the product besides fixing a minimum export price of onion at $800 per tonne till December 2024 to limit exports to ensure domestic supply.
Onion prices in Bangladesh increased by Tk 20–25 per kg after India announced an extension of the onion export ban. After India banned onion exports, the Tariff Commission recommended importing the product from alternative countries. But the businessmen did not show much interest in accepting this suggestion.
According to official data collected from Chittagong port, 1,054 tons of onions were imported from China and Pakistan through the port in December and January. In May 2022, the Bangladesh government stopped onion imports from India to support local farmers, causing onion prices to rise.
