India scraps import tax on onions as prices soar
Vegetable being trucked in from Pakistan at one-fifth the price.
NEW DEHLI:
The Indian government, facing mounting public anger over soaring onion costs, on Wednesday scrapped the tax on imports of the vegetable to try to rein in prices of the staple food.
The move comes after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed “deep concern” over the cost of onions doubling and called for steps to lower the price of what is a basic item on every family’s shopping list.
Onions are selling for 80 Indian rupees a kilogramme – turning the vegetable into an unaffordable luxury for the poor – having rocketed from 35 rupees in a few days.
Onions are being trucked in from Pakistan, where they cost a fifth of the Indian price, in a bid to lower prices.
“The customs duty on onions has been brought down to zero,” Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters.
As many as 13 truckloads carrying 5 to 15 tons per truck of onion have already arrived from Pakistan earlier this week while a further 500 tons are expected in coming days. The landed cost of onions stood at Rs18 to Rs20 per kg including customs duty, cess, transportation and handling charges.
“The government is monitoring the onion price situation on almost an hourly basis,” said Consumer Affairs Secretary Rajiv Agrawal.
The government has also asked state-run cooperative stores to sell onions at wholesale rates of 35 to 40 rupees a kilogramme to cool prices.
The government, which has been battling to curb food inflation of nearly 10 per cent, earlier banned onion exports but has warned prices will stay high for several weeks due to unseasonal rains in the western onion-growing region.
Authorities also say that traders hoarding onions are driving up prices.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.
The Indian government, facing mounting public anger over soaring onion costs, on Wednesday scrapped the tax on imports of the vegetable to try to rein in prices of the staple food.
The move comes after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed “deep concern” over the cost of onions doubling and called for steps to lower the price of what is a basic item on every family’s shopping list.
Onions are selling for 80 Indian rupees a kilogramme – turning the vegetable into an unaffordable luxury for the poor – having rocketed from 35 rupees in a few days.
Onions are being trucked in from Pakistan, where they cost a fifth of the Indian price, in a bid to lower prices.
“The customs duty on onions has been brought down to zero,” Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters.
As many as 13 truckloads carrying 5 to 15 tons per truck of onion have already arrived from Pakistan earlier this week while a further 500 tons are expected in coming days. The landed cost of onions stood at Rs18 to Rs20 per kg including customs duty, cess, transportation and handling charges.
“The government is monitoring the onion price situation on almost an hourly basis,” said Consumer Affairs Secretary Rajiv Agrawal.
The government has also asked state-run cooperative stores to sell onions at wholesale rates of 35 to 40 rupees a kilogramme to cool prices.
The government, which has been battling to curb food inflation of nearly 10 per cent, earlier banned onion exports but has warned prices will stay high for several weeks due to unseasonal rains in the western onion-growing region.
Authorities also say that traders hoarding onions are driving up prices.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.