<p class="title">The government on Thursday imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $850 per tonne on onion to increase domestic supplies and check price rise.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">What is MEP?</p>.<p class="title">MEP is the minimum rate below which exports are not allowed.</p>.<p class="title">Onion MEP was scrapped in December 2015. In a notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said: "Export of onion...shall be permitted only on Letter of Credit (LC) subject to a MEP of $850 per tonne till December 31, 2017."</p>.<p class="title">Export of all varieties of onions will be allowed only on LC, it added.</p>.<p class="title">Concerned over the rise in onion prices, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in August had sought that MEP be imposed on its exports by the commerce ministry.</p>.<p class="title">He also sought the removal of sops on export of the kitchen staple. Retail onion prices, which have shot up to Rs 50-65 per kg in most cities, have come under pressure due to tight domestic supplies.</p>.<p class="title">The government has asked state-run MMTC to import 2,000 tonnes of onion, while other agencies Nafed and SFAC to buy onions locally and supply in consuming areas.</p>.<p class="title">Supplies got exhausted as large quantity of exports were undertaken in the first four months of the current fiscal.</p>.<p class="title">The country exported 1.2 million tonnes in April-July of this fiscal, up by 56% from the year-ago period. Also, the new 2017-18 kharif crop - which is being harvested - is expected to be less owing to fall in acreage.</p>.<p class="title">Recently, a senior consumer affairs ministry official had said that the new kharif crop is likely to be lower by 10% as area sown is 30% lower. About 40% of the country's total onion crop is produced in the kharif season, and the rest during the rabi season.</p>.<p class="title">The kharif crop, however, cannot be stored. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat are the major onion producing states. </p>
<p class="title">The government on Thursday imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $850 per tonne on onion to increase domestic supplies and check price rise.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">What is MEP?</p>.<p class="title">MEP is the minimum rate below which exports are not allowed.</p>.<p class="title">Onion MEP was scrapped in December 2015. In a notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said: "Export of onion...shall be permitted only on Letter of Credit (LC) subject to a MEP of $850 per tonne till December 31, 2017."</p>.<p class="title">Export of all varieties of onions will be allowed only on LC, it added.</p>.<p class="title">Concerned over the rise in onion prices, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in August had sought that MEP be imposed on its exports by the commerce ministry.</p>.<p class="title">He also sought the removal of sops on export of the kitchen staple. Retail onion prices, which have shot up to Rs 50-65 per kg in most cities, have come under pressure due to tight domestic supplies.</p>.<p class="title">The government has asked state-run MMTC to import 2,000 tonnes of onion, while other agencies Nafed and SFAC to buy onions locally and supply in consuming areas.</p>.<p class="title">Supplies got exhausted as large quantity of exports were undertaken in the first four months of the current fiscal.</p>.<p class="title">The country exported 1.2 million tonnes in April-July of this fiscal, up by 56% from the year-ago period. Also, the new 2017-18 kharif crop - which is being harvested - is expected to be less owing to fall in acreage.</p>.<p class="title">Recently, a senior consumer affairs ministry official had said that the new kharif crop is likely to be lower by 10% as area sown is 30% lower. About 40% of the country's total onion crop is produced in the kharif season, and the rest during the rabi season.</p>.<p class="title">The kharif crop, however, cannot be stored. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat are the major onion producing states. </p>