“Anti-farmer”: Maharashtra Congress Chief on Centre imposing 40 per cent duty on onion exports

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 23 (ANI): Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole has termed the Central government’s decision to raise 40 per cent export duty on onions as “anti-farmer.”

“They are lying to our farmers. My question is to Deputy Chief (Minister) Devendra Fadnavis and (Union Minister) Piyush Goyal, why do you raise the export tax? Onions get stale and if the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) doesn’t buy them immediately, farmers will be at a loss,” Patole said on Tuesday.

“The BJP government is against farmers…BJP doesn’t care about the people and farmers of our country. They care about importing arrangements… like Adani… and how to benefit him. BJP increased the price of fertilizers, seeds and insecticides, and they plan how farmers will get less price,” the Congress leader added.

Recently, the Central government imposed a 40 per cent export duty on the kitchen staple which prompted onion farmers in the state to stage a protest in Maharashtra’s Nashik district on Monday.

A notification issued by the Finance Ministry on August 19 stated that they have imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions till December 31, 2023.

“Government imposes 40 per cent duty on onion exports till December 31,” the Ministry stated.

The export duty comes amid reports that onion prices are likely to rise in September.

Earlier on August 11, the central government started releasing the staple vegetable from its buffer stock.

The central government had earlier decided it will maintain 3 lakh tonne of onions in the 2023-24 season as buffer stock. In 2022-23, the government maintained 2.51 lakh tonne onion as buffer stock.

Buffer stock is maintained to meet any exigencies and for price stabilization, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season.

The central government started the procurement of an additional two lakh tonnes of onion from farmers in Maharashtra on Tuesday.

The announcement was made at a meeting of Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI)