No custom duty on Onion imports
NEW DELHI: Government reduces custom duty on onion imports to zero. Onion price goes to Rs 85 per kg in some retail markets. On Wednesday the government said it has brought down customs duty on imports of the commodity to zero from 5 per cent.
Finance secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters here today, “The customs duty on onions has been brought down to zero.”
The skyrocketing hike in onion prices waked up the government, which has imposed a ban on onion exports till January 15, 2011, with a view to increase availability in the domestic market.
There is a sharp rise in the price of onions up to Rs 70-85 per kg in retail markets across the country from just Rs 35-40 a few days ago on account of damage suffered by crops in the key-producing states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and a few southern states due to excessive rains.
Here the price of the onions imported from Pakistan is just Rs 18-20 per kg.
Food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had said on Tuesday, “Onion prices will remain high for the next 2-3 weeks and the situation is likely to improve only after that.”
An official source said, quoting letters written by Singh to the ministries concerned, “The Prime Minister desires all necessary steps to effectively deal with the extraordinary price rise of onions and bring the prices down to an affordable level.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh worriedly asked the agriculture and consumer affairs ministries to take effective steps to rein in onion prices.
(News Editor- Naushin Fatima Khan)
