Pakistan starts onion exports to India

Onions from Lahore arrive in Chandigarh, India amid soaring prices of the vegetable in Pakistan.

CHANDIGARH: Truckloads of onions arrived on Monday in Chandigarh from Lahore through the Attari-Wagha land route amid soaring prices of the commodity in Pakistan.

As many as 13 truckloads carrying 5 to 15 tons of onion each have arrived from Pakistan, a senior official of the Customs department in Amritsar told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

About five importers have brought in onion from Lahore for supply in the markets of Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar in Punjab and Delhi, the official said. The landed cost of onion stood at Rs18-20 per kg, he said, adding this included customs duty, cess, transportation and handling charges.

According to importers, it was for the first time this year onions are being imported from Pakistan. Rajdeep Uppal, the MD of an Amritsar trading company Narain Exim, said that his company had imported 100 tons of onion at a rate of $400 per ton. He said he would import a further 500 tons in coming days from Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2010.