Centre Lifts 20% Export Duty on Onions, Effective April 1, 2025 [Read Notification]

The Ministry of Finance has issued Notification No. 19/2025-Customs, dated March 22, 2025, announcing that the 20% export duty on onions will be removed starting from April 1, 2025. This means that exporters will no longer have to pay extra tax for sending onions outside the country.

This change has been made by updating an older notification — Notification No. 27/2011-Customs, which was originally issued in 2011 to list out export duties on different goods. In the latest notification, the government has made a small but important change in that list. It has replaced the export duty on onions (mentioned at Serial Number 1 in the table) with the word “nil”, which means zero duty.

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This decision has been taken under Section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, which allows the government to reduce or remove duties when it is in the interest of the public.

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The 20% export duty on onions was first introduced on September 13, 2024. At that time, onion prices were high in the country and the government wanted to ensure that enough onions were available for Indian consumers. Along with this duty, the government had also taken other steps such as setting a Minimum Export Price (MEP) and even banning exports for a few months — from December 8, 2023, to May 3, 2024 — to control prices and increase domestic supply.

Now, things have improved. According to the Department of Agriculture, this year’s rabi onion crop is expected to be 227 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), which is 18% more than last year. Since rabi onions account for 70-75% of the country’s total onion production, this big harvest will help keep prices stable over the coming months.

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Prices are already coming down in wholesale markets like Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon. On March 21, 2025, modal prices in these markets were around Rs. 1,325–1,330 per quintal, and the average retail prices across India have dropped by 10% over the past month. Wholesale prices have gone down by 39% compared to the same time last year.

Even with the earlier restrictions, India exported 11.65 lakh metric tonnes of onions between April 2024 and March 18, 2025, which shows that global demand remains strong.

By removing the export duty, the government hopes to help farmers earn better prices for their produce in the international market and make sure that there is enough onion supply at home at affordable prices.

To Read the full text of the Notification CLICK HERE

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