India bans export of onions

India bans export of onions

India today announced a ban on the export of onions with immediate effect, stoking fears of a crisis of the vegetable in Bangladeshi markets.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issued a notification in this regard.

The notification, signed by DGFT Amit Yadav and uploaded to the directorate's website, said, "Exports of all variety of onions is prohibited with immediate effect."

India has been the main source of onion imports for Bangladesh.

Onion imports from India were stopped on September 29 last year as India faced a scarcity of the vegetable. The ban led to a sharp rise in the price of onions in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's domestic production of onions can meet demand for 7-8 months and 7-8 lakh tonnes of onions need to be imported every year.