With spiralling onion prices bringing tears to the consumers, the government on Tuesday banned its export for 15 days and hiked the minimum export price for pending tenders by $50 a tonne.

“We have decided not to issue any more no-objection certificates for at least 15 days,” said National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Of India (Nafed) Managing Director Alok Ranjan.

“We have already hiked the minimum export price by $50 a tonne. Now, crops from Nasik and Karnataka will start arriving in the market in full swing. This should ease prices in the coming two weeks,” Mr Ranjan told IANS.

“In fact, our estimates suggest that the onion crops this year from both Maharashtra and Karnataka are better than last year. So, the supply side will be reinforced,” he explained.

Onion prices have soared in the past couple of weeks to Rs 30 a kg from under Rs 20 in the national capital, forcing the government to initiate steps to bring down the burden on consumers. “We have also started selling onions at Rs 22-23 a kg in Delhi,” said Mr Ranjan.