International Desk: The Indian government banned onion exports in December last year, considering domestic demand and inflation. After about five months, the country withdrew from that position.
In a notification on Saturday, May 4, the Government of India announced the lifting of the ban on onion exports.
According to the news in the Times of India, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the central organization for the control of foreign trade, has set the minimum export price (Minimum Export Price, or MEP) of 550 dollars per ton of onion.
According to a group of political analysts in India, this decision was taken by the BJP, the sitting party in the central government, due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Farmers in India’s western state of Maharashtra suffered huge losses due to a ban on onion exports in December last year. As a result, they have anger towards the central government. On the other hand, BJP candidates are contesting in every parliamentary seat of the state in this election.
Many political analysts believe that the BJP has lifted this ban so that the farmers’ anger does not show in the results of the polls.
During the ban, the Indian government exported onions to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the UAE in limited quantities.
