Onions worth $523.8 million have been exported from the country in the April-December 2022 period, according to government figures.
“There are no restrictions or prohibitions on the export of onions from India”, the Commerce & Industry Ministry clarified in a statement issued on Sunday.
The clarification have been made after NCP’s Supriya Sule raised concerns on onion exports on Saturday.
Restriction only on onion seeds
Reacting to Sule’s tweet, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, “There is no ban on onion exports from India to any country and misleading statements suggesting the contrary is unfortunate. In fact, from July-December 2022, onion exports have consistently been above the $40 million mark every month, benefiting our annadatas.”
Government has not restricted or prohibited the export of onion, the release said. “The extant export policy of onions is ‘free’. Only the export of onion seed is ‘restricted’ and that too is permitted under authorisation from the Directorate Generate of Foreign Trade (DGFT),” it said.