Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she doesn’t eat much of the kitchen staple. “I don’t eat a lot of onions and garlic, so don’t worry. I come from a family that doesn’t have much to do with onions,” Sitharaman said.
The Finance Minister made the comment after a member of Parliament (MP) asked her if she eats onions.
Meanwhile The MMTC has further contracted 4,000 MT of Onions from Turkey which is expected to arrive by mid-January, 2020. This 4,000MT is in addition to the 17,090 MT of Onions already contracted which includes 6090 MT arriving from Egypt and 11,000 MT from Turkey.
Prices of onions in many places have crossed Rs 100 per kg mark because of shortages caused by unseasonal rainfall.
Sitharaman said that there are several structural issues related to storage of onions and the government is trying to address them.
She also said that due to implementation of direct benefit transfer scheme, the government has been able to save Rs 1.41 lakh crore in the last five years.
The government plugged all loopholes through DBT and “all dalals and middlemen have been eliminated from the system”, she said.
The Department of Consumer Affairs has also directed MMTC to issue three more tenders for import of Onions, out of which two tenders are country specific namely Turkey & European Union and one is a global tender. Each of these tenders are for 5,000 MT.
Certain relaxations have been provided in the new tenders issued such as size range of Onions have been expanded to 40mm-80mm, Consortium bidding has been allowed, exporters can offer shipment in multiple lots.
Additionally, fumigation condition relaxations that were earlier provided till 30 th November, 2019 have now been extended till 31st December, 2019. This is expected to further increase participation, competition & reduce price.
A coordination committee has also been formed by the Department of Consumer Affairs to ensure that the entire process of import and distribution is streamlined so as to ensure timely arrivals and movement of Onions and sale by States.
The committee is holding meetings on a daily basis with participation from officials of MMTC, NAFED, CONCOR and associated Ministries and Departments. The Ministry of Shipping has also assured that it will provide priority landing/docking for the ships containing the imported Onions and will also be appointing a nodal officer at JNPT, Mumbai for ensuring speedy arrivals and onward distribution/dispatch.
