Onion Export Ban: Centre Unlikely To Wipe Tears Of Farmers Ahead Of 2024 Lok Sabha Polls As Maharashtra Ministers To Meet Amit Shah Today

Maharashtra government is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday to discuss a possible way out of the total ban on onion exports.

The senior Maharashtra ministers, including Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, are expected to meet Shah, IE reported.

The report quoting Minister of Food and Civil Supplies Chhagan Bhujbal said he could also join the delegation to meet Shah in Delhi.

Onion prices have plummeted in wholesale markets in Maharashtra since the central government banned exports on December 8. Currently, the kitchen staple is trading at Rs 2,100-2,000/quintal at various wholesale markets as against Rs 3,500-3,300/quintal it was trading at before the ban.

“The fate of over 400 containers (each container containing 22 tonnes of onion) slated to be shipped out was also uncertain post the ban. Farmers have since reacted sharply to the ban and the subsequent price fall,” the report mentioned.

The report quoting Bhujbal, who represents the Yeola assembly constituency in Nashik district, said they would try to find a solution. 

“We will try to work out a solution which will help stabilise the price both for farmers as well as consumers,” he was quoted as having said.

The report mentioned some other senior ministers are not optimistic about any solutions. “

The Centre had earlier justified the ban by citing the consumers. In this regard, we do not hope the ban will be lifted before March 31, 2024. With Loksabha elections round the corner, the Centre would not want to face the electorate with high onion prices,”the report quoted a minister as having said. 

Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune, and parts of Marathawada are major onion-growing zones in the state, and this decision to ban exports can have political backlash. The ban comes even as the late kharif crop is being harvested and the rabi crop is being planted.