Government orders import of 4000 tonnes onions

The government has placed fresh orders of 4000 tonnes of onions from Turkey which is likely to arrive by second week of next month. This is in addition to the 17,090 MT of Onions already contracted which includes 6090 MT arriving from Egypt and 11,000 MT from Turkey. The government so far has contracted import over 21,000 tonnes out of 1.2 lakh tonnes approved by the cabinet.

The consumer affairs department has also directed MMTC to issue three more tenders for import of Onions, out of which two tenders are country specific namely Turkey and European Union and one is a global tender. Each of these tenders are for 5,000 tonnes.

The government has provided relaxations in the fresh tenders issued which include permission of consortium bidding, size variation and flexibility to exporters for offering shipment in multiple lots.


“Additionally, fumigation condition relaxations that were earlier provided till 30th November, 2019 have now been extended till 31st December, 2019. This is expected to further increase participation, competition and reduce price,” said a senior consumer affairs ministry official.

The consumer affairs ministry has formed a coordination committee to ensure that the entire process of import and distribution is streamlined so as to ensure timely arrivals and movement of onions and sale by states. The committee is holding meetings on a daily basis with participation from officials of MMTC, NAFED, CONCOR and associated Ministries and Departments.

The shipping ministry has also assured that it will provide priority landing for the ships containing the imported onions and will also be appointing a nodal officer at JNPT, Mumbai for ensuring speedy arrivals and onward distribution.

The government has also planned procurement of domestically produced onions from major producing states to be distributed across all consuming states as per the demand placed by them.

Earlier, the centre had revised stock holding limit on Onions to 25 MT on Wholesalers and 5 MT on Retailers. Importers will be exempted from these stock limits for imported stock.