"Onion exports have increased to 2.25 lakh tonnes during April-May of the current fiscal," a senior government official said. The country exported 1.92 lakh tons of onion during April-May 2007.
The estimate is based on no-objection certificate issued by NAFED, which is the nodal agency to carry out onion export, he said. The country has exported 1.05 lakh tonnes in April and 1.2 lakh tonnes in May, he said, while noting that the increasing trend would continue in June.
"There is a good demand from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Gulf countries. Besides, we have lowered the MEP by 25 dollars per tonne for June shipments," he said. India had exported 9.96 lakh tonnes of onions in 2007-08, compared to 11.61 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
In value terms, however, exports declined marginally to Rs 1,116 crore from Rs 1,135 crore in the year-on-year period. The co-operative major NAFED has decided to cut the MEP of standard sized onions by $25 a tonne for June to boost the exports. The average MEP of onion for June is $155-$160 per tonne.
The bumper production of onion in India has resulted in a major crash in its prices, that were skyrocketing during last festival season, and therefore, government wants to liquidate the surplus onion in the overseas markets. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) along with 12 other agencies regulates the exports and fixes MEP every month. Onion from southern states is exported mainly to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore while the Nasik varieties are sent to all export destinations.
