30,000 tonnes of onions rotting at Indian border; selling for only 2 rupees per kg

Indian exporters are being forced to sell onions stockpiled for Bangladesh in the local market at throwaway prices. This happened after the Bangladesh government halted onion imports from India to protect local farmers.

On Friday, at the Mahadipur–Sonamasjid border in West Bengal's Malda district, a kilogram of onions was seen selling for only 2 rupees. A 50-kg sack cost just 100 rupees. Onions purchased in Nashik for 16 rupees per kg, with transport and other costs taking the total to 22 rupees per kg, are now being sold for almost nothing. 

In Malda's retail markets, onions cost 20–22 rupees per kg. But only 7 kilometres away in Mahadipur, buyers can find a sack at just 2 rupees per kg. Exporters say this is entirely due to Bangladesh's sudden suspension of imports.

The exporters say Bangladeshi importers had verbally assured them, prompting them to stockpile onions near the border for export to Bangladesh. At least 30,000 tonnes of onions had been stockpiled at the Ghojadanga, Petrapole, Mahadipur and Hili borders alone. Worth crores of rupees, these onions have now begun to rot.

To minimise losses, exporters are having to employ more than a hundred labourers daily to separate the good onions from the rotten ones.

Normally, 30–35 truckloads of onions cross into Bangladesh daily through Mahadipur. Hoping for similar demand, Indian traders had stockpiled nearly 20,000 tonnes of onions in this border area alone. Their cost per kg was around 22 rupees. Had Bangladesh imported them, exporters would have received 30–32 rupees per kg, earning a profit of 8–10 rupees per kg.

Traders say that on 16 November, the Bangladeshi import–export group issued a notice stating that Bangladesh's Department of Agricultural Extension had been restricting import permits for Indian onions for some time. 

They say that at this time of year, onion demand in Bangladesh is always high. Onion currently costs around Tk100 per kg in Bangladesh. 

Trader Sajirul Sheikh said, "Some of us bought 50 truckloads, some bought 70 truckloads of onions from Nashik and Indore and stored them in our godowns in Malda. We brought them in large 14- and 16-wheel lorries. At 22 rupees per kg, one tonne cost 2,200 rupees. But now the onions have started rotting. So we are being forced to sell them for 2, 6, 8 or 10 rupees per kg."

Trader Jakirul Islam said, "When exports were normal two months ago, I exported 30–35 truckloads. But after exports were stopped, our stock started rotting. So without delay, we hired more than a hundred workers to sort the onions and started selling them locally for whatever price we could get. Bangladesh has sent a clear message that they will not import onions right now. If they do later, they will announce it in a notification. We are asking both the state and central governments to intervene, otherwise the situation will worsen."

Despite buying onions cheaply, Indian buyer Khairul Haque said the losses suffered by traders were nothing to celebrate. "Because of the negligence of the state and central governments, the onion market is in a disastrous state. We are buying onions for just 2 rupees per kg. Slightly better onions cost 8–10 rupees. In our markets, the price is around 20–30 rupees per kg."