MUMBAI: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has written a letter to Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal demanding immediate cancellation of the 20 percent duty imposed by the Central Government on onion exports.
Since the Sri Lankan government has reduced the import duty on onions by 20 percent and started efforts to import more onions, the central government must immediately abolish the 20 percent export duty on onions so that farmers in the state, including Nashik, can export their red onions to foreign countries, including Sri Lanka, and get a good price based on cost, Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Pawar has written in a letter to Union Minister Mr. Goyal.
State MLAs Nitin Pawar , Diliprao Bankar , Hiraman Khoskar , Sarojtai Ahire and other public representatives had written a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar demanding immediate attention to this issue and a solution. Taking cognizance of the demand of these public representatives, Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Pawar has written a letter to Union Commerce Minister Mr. Goyal demanding immediate cancellation of the 20 percent export duty on onion.
In a letter to Union Minister Shri. Goyal, Deputy Chief Minister Shri. Pawar says thatthere is a large number of onion farmers in the state, especially in Nashik district. These farmers export onions abroad in large quantities. At present, summer onions are over and newred onions have come to the market for sale in large quantities. Farmers in the state have produced onions fighting against natural disasters. Due to untimely rains and changing weather conditions, their onions have suffered a large amount of damage.
While it is necessary to get a good price based on cost for the remaining good onions, the market price is falling day by day. At present, red onions in the state are getting an average price of Rs 2400 per quintal. Since red onions are not sustainable, farmers and traders have to sell them immediately.
Against this backdrop, it is necessary to export as much red onions produced in the state abroad as possible to get a good price for the onions of the farmers in the state. For this, the central government needs to remove the 20 percent export duty.
The Deputy Chief Minister has clarified in a letter to the Union Commerce Minister that the prices of red onions should be maintained and onion farmers should get good prices based on the cost of production , and has demanded the abolition of the 20 percent export duty.
