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.

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The meeting was attended by Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI); Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Shri Rajiv Kumar, Finance Secretary and Secretary, Department of Financial Services; Shri Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs; Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; Dr Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance; Shri Ajay Tyagi, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India; Shri Subhash Chandra Khuntia, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India; Dr M.S. Sahoo, Chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India; Shri Ravi Mital, Special Secretary, Department of Financial Services and in charge, Chairperson, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority; and other senior officers of the Government of India and Financial Sector Regulators.

The Council reviewed the current global and domestic macro-economic situation and financial stability and vulnerabilities issues, including inter-alia, those concerning NBFCs and Credit Rating Agencies.

The Council reviewed the action taken by members on the decision taken by FSDC earlier and held discussions on the proposals submitted for further strengthening of the resolution framework and framework for cyber security of the financial sector.

The Council also took note of the activities undertaken by the FSDC Sub-Committee chaired by the Governor, RBI and the initiatives taken by the various regulators in the financial sector.

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Nirmala Sitharaman said the government’s efforts last time were thwarted by the poor numbers in the Upper House.

“…I am sure we will now show the commitment for reforms happens fast. That is where the mandate given to Modi 2.0 will help,” Ms Sitharaman said, speaking at The Indian Express’ ”Adda”.

“We will push forward with those reforms which have missed the bus last time, but won’t miss the bus now,” the minister asserted.

When asked whether economics has trumped politics in the recent elections, she it is not possible for any political party, particularly those in power, to delink any subject.

“It is not possible for any government, be it at the Centre or in the states, to say give me your vote on nationalism and I do not want to talk about economic issues.

Is the voter going to be indulgent enough to say ”alright, the prime minister doesn’t want to talk about economy so we won’t talk about the economy”,” she said.

Hitting out at those who blocked government from carrying out reforms in its first term, she admitted that the numbers were limited (in the Upper House) and the country paid the price for that.

She said the manufacturing sector competitiveness is still pulled down by “extraneous” factors such as high cost for land, electricity and also changes in land use, which are beyond the ambit of individual companies, but which the government now wants to ease them all.

“Everything has a long way to go in terms of becoming actually easy to do business,” she said. With dozens of companies leaving China and opening shops in other emerging countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh following the US-China trade wars, Ms Sitharaman said the government has created a list of potential players who will be tapped and added that some conversations are already on in this regar

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“It (India) is one of the fastest growing (economies) even today. It has the best skilled workers and a government that is continuously doing what is required in the name of reforms, above all democracy and rule of law,” Ms Sitharaman said.

Responding to a question on why investors should allocate funds for India, she said that even if the court system is a bit delayed, India is a transparent and open society. The rule of law works and a lot of reforms happening she said.

“So you will not have anything better… democracy-loving, capitalist-respecting environment… in India,” Ms Sitharaman said at the event hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry or FICCI 

She said the government needs to understand what the expectations of the insurance sector are other than removing of the cap.

Ms Sitharaman said she would be quite open to it and they could send her the details. The Union Finance Minister, however, said she will not be able to give them an assurance at this point of time, but will work on the matter.

Asserting that the government is engaging with everyone and there is no trust deficit with the corporate sector and investors, she said there is a greater understanding that this government is willing to hear and wanting to respond.

The government is committed to maintaining fiscal deficit in India, she said.To a question on the slowdown in the Indian economy, the Finance Minister said the government is taking steps to discuss problems in the “stressed” sectors.

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