Centre scraps export duty on onions effective April 1

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said the government's decision to withdraw 20 per cent customs duty on onion exports, with effect from April 1, will boost the income of farmers.

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"There will be no duty on onion export so that the onion​ grown by our farmers with hard work reaches the global markets, and they can get better and remunerative prices," Chouhan said.

The minister said that earlier 40 per cent export duty was levied on onions but when the price of onions started falling and farmers started getting less price, the government decided to reduce the export duty on onion from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. "Today the government has decided that the 20 per cent export duty should also be completely removed," he said.

The export duty of 20 per cent which now stands removed had been in place from September 13, 2024. According to a notification issued last week by the Finance Ministry, the export duty withdrawal will come into effect from April 1.

"The Modi government is a farmer-friendly government and giving remunerative prices to farmers, ensuring fair prices is its priority and commitment," Chauhan said.

The export duty removal aims to protect domestic farmers from steep fall in onion prices. The move is expected to enable farmers' produce to reach global markets duty-free.

To ensure domestic availability, the government had taken measures to check export by means of duty, minimum export price (MEP) and even to the extent of export prohibition for almost five months, from December 8, 2023 till May 3, 2024.

Despite export restriction, the total onion export during FY 2023-24 was 17.17 LMT and FY 2024-25 (till March 18) was 11.65 LMT. Monthly onion export quantity picked up from 0.72 LMT in September 2024 to 1.85 LMT in January, 2025.

Ministry officials said the decision stood as another testament to the government’s commitment to ensuring remunerative prices to farmers while maintaining affordability of onion to the consumers at this crucial juncture when both mandi and retail prices have softened following expected arrival of rabi crops in good quantities.