State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu said that the Indian government has taken a policy decision to supply onions to Bangladesh.
He said that in principle the Indian government has agreed to provide onions. Now, if we get the official paper, onions will be brought from India to Bangladesh soon.
On Tuesday (February 20), he informed the journalists after the meeting of the tax force regarding the review of commodity prices and market situation in the meeting room of the Ministry of Commerce.
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The Minister of State for Commerce said that the procedures we have taken to import onions and sugar from India have been agreed in principle by the Government of India. Now we will take steps to bring onion to Bangladesh as soon as we get the official paper.
Earlier, Minister of State for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu had a telephone conversation with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Textiles and Consumer Goods and Food and Mass Distribution Piyush Goyal on January 24. Meanwhile, the state minister requested the commerce minister of India to take steps to supply 100,000 tons of sugar and 50,000 tons of onions.
Meanwhile, according to Economic Times, India has not completely lifted the ban on onion exports. However, the country will export limited quantities of onions based on bilateral relations. It is also said in that news that the exact quantity of onions that the Indian government will export has not yet been confirmed. Economic Times could not tell when this export process will start.
India’s major exporters had written to the government last Sunday saying that onion exports may be allowed on a limited scale due to increased supply in the local market. The price of onion has already come down from Rs 40 to Rs 13 per kg in the Nashik area of Maharashtra, India. Ever since the export ban was imposed, farmers from one of the major onion producing areas in the country have been protesting for its withdrawal. Nashik District Onion Traders Association also held several rounds of protest programs.
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India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade has imposed a ban on onion exports on December 7 until March 31 this year. However, earlier last August, the Indian government had imposed a 40 percent duty on onion exports to maintain normal supply in the country’s market. Then last October, the minimum export price of onion was set at 800 US dollars per ton. But as these measures were not very effective to increase the supply of onion in the domestic market, the Indian government completely stopped onion export.
Then suddenly the price of onion in Bangladesh market increased. Now at the retail level, one kg of chopped onion is being sold for Tk 120 to Tk 130.
Meanwhile, after the Taxforce meeting, the Minister of State for Commerce said that the new price of edible oil will be effective from March 1. According to the new price, the price of soybean oil will be reduced by Tk 10 per litre. Soybean oil price of one liter bottle will be 163 rupees. Besides, the maximum price of open oil will be Tk 149. And 5 liter bottle will be sold for 800 taka.
Titu said, Myanmar is always news about our border and Rohingya. A MoU draft has come to our Ministry of Commerce from the Government of Myanmar so that we can bring daily essential products from the border to the river.
Also read: Onion prices are increasing rapidly
He said, I have spoken to the Prime Minister and he has taken the matter positively. Our Minister of Shipping has instructed him that through the bilateral shipping agreement we have, we can easily bring goods from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
He also said that the Ministry of Agriculture is taking the initiative to produce onions twice a year.
MAS/MKR/ASM
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