Worried over skyrocketing onion prices in the retail market, Bangladesh has requested the Modi Government to withdraw the ban imposed on its export as soon as possible.
The Government had on Monday banned the export of all varieties of onions with immediate effect to increase availability and curb prices of the commodity in the domestic market. Onion prices in Bangladesh have touched 200 taka per kg while it is being sold at Rs 40-45 per kg across India. Onion traders and political parties including Congress and NCP are demanding reversal of the ban order while retailers expect a Rs 2-5 per kg drop in the rate due to the export ban.
Expressing deep concern over the sudden ban on the export of onions as it directly affects the supply of essential food items in market, the Bangladesh government in a letter dated September 15, requested the Indian High Commission to convey the message to authorities in New Delhi and take necessary measures to resume onion exports taking into consideration the excellent ties between the neighbours.
It pointed out that a secretary-level meeting between the commerce ministries of the two countries held on January 15-16, 2020 in Dhaka requested India not to impose export restriction on essential food items required by Bangladesh. The letter said the Bangladesh side also requested India to inform Dhaka ahead of time in case of any event necessitating such a restriction.
During April-June period, onion exports to Bangladesh, India’s largest overseas market for the key kitchen ingredient, shot up 147.5% to 1.9 lakh metric tonne. Overall, onion exports grew 23% during the same period to 6.8 lakh metric tonne.
During her visit to India in October last year after the onion export ban, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina had said, “We are facing some issues because of the ban on onion exports from India. I don’t know why you banned export of onions. It would have been better if you had alerted us in advance so that we could have sourced onions from other countries. You banned it suddenly and it became a problem for us).”
Hasina had then said in jest that she had asked her cook not to use onions in the kitchen.
