Maharashtra: Over 500 farmers protest in blocking Mumbai-Agra highway against export duty on onions

More than 500 farmers blocked the Mumbai-Agra highway on Thursday in Nashik, Maharashtra, in protest of the Union government's plan to charge 40 percent export duty on onions.

The stir took place in Chandwad in the rural part of the district and the arterial road was blocked for almost one-and-half hours before police rushed to the site and managed to get the protesters off the stretch, an official said.

Union government on August 19 imposed 40 per cent duty on the export of onions to increase domestic availability amid signs of increasing prices and in view of the upcoming festival season. The export duty, which is the first time ever on onion, was imposed by the Finance Ministry through a Customs notification and will be in force till December 31.

Between April 1 and August 4 this fiscal, 9.75 lakh tonne of onions have been exported from the country. The top three importing countries in value terms are Bangladesh, Malaysia and the UAE.