Piyush Goyal Reassures Onion Farmers About Fair Remuneration; Sets Price At Rs 2,410 Per Quintal

Maharashtra Deputy CM also said, "Centre has announced that for the interest of onion growers of Maharashtra, special purchase centres will be set up in Nashik and Ahmednagar."

Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that from Tuesday 11 am NCCF and NAFED will begin the purchase of 2 lakh more tons of onion from Nashik, Pimpalgaon, Lasalgaon, Ahmednagar, and the entire region.

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Union Minister Piyush Goyal reassured the farmers on Tuesday that the government will initiate the purchase of the additional 2 lakh tonne onions for the buffer stock from onion farmers in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and other areas. The minister informed the farmers that they will be provided appropriate remuneration for their produce and the government will purchase the onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal. 

Goyal added, “From 11 am today, NCCF and NAFED will begin the purchase of 2 lakh more tons of onion from Nashik, Pimpalgaon, Lasalgaon, Ahmednagar and the entire region. More purchases will be made in future if needed,” stressing that the farmers don’t need to be concerned about the export duty, reported ANI. 

#WATCH | Union Minister Piyush Goyal says, "...We all know that in the past few days, as per the orders by Govt of India, NAFED and NCCF purchased 3 lakh tons of onion from Nashik, Lasalgaon, Ahmednagar and this region...40% export tax has been imposed on onion so that there is… pic.twitter.com/lai581eOeP

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

On Monday, Union Minister Bharti Pawar also stated that the government will not allow onion prices to crash. Amidst a protest by farmers and traders against the 40 per cent export duty on onions, the minister stated that with the growing demand for onions, the farmers don’t need to be concerned as the government will adhere to it’s ‘people first’ policy. 

Pawar noted that the imposition of export duty has been done to maintain a demand and supply balance and the government has increased it’s buffer stock limit of onions to 5 lakh tonne. She further added that the decision to increase the buffer stock has been taken to help provide relief to the public from surging prices and authorising NAFED to procure the additional 2 lakh tonne onions for the buffer has been done to allow the farmers to receive remunerative prices, reported PTI.

Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also assured the onion farmers in the state to not worry about their produce on Tuesday, reported ANI. He said, “ I had a telephonic conversation with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister Piyush Goyal from Japan. Centre has decided to purchase 2 lakh metric tons of onion.” Fadnavis assured the farmers that the Centre has set up special purchase centres for onion producers of the state and it will purchase the onions from the farmers at the price of Rs 2,410 per quintal.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis tweets, "Today, I had a telephonic conversation with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister Piyush Goyal from Japan. Centre has decided to purchase 2 lakh metric tons of onion. Centre has announced that for the interest of onion… pic.twitter.com/JfRodRP75Y

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

Notably, farmers and traders halted onion auctions in Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in Nashik, Lasalgaon, and some other regions in Maharashtra on Monday amidst demands of a rollback of the export duty. 

Further, the NCCF Chairman, Vishal Singh, confirmed on Tuesday that the NCCF has already opened centres in Maharashtra and two more will be opened in Madhya Pradesh, tweeted ANI.

#WATCH | Delhi: We have opened our centres at 13 places in Maharashtra and we will start two centres in MP also...We will buy onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal...: Vishal Singh, Chairman, NCCF pic.twitter.com/8L2sOVF9wd

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

The government announced a 40 per export duty on onions last week to maintain the domestic supply and keep a tab on the onion prices. The export duty, the first ever on onions, will be in force till December 31.