There was a lot of apprehension before budget day regarding what the Union finance minister will do to reduce the deficit. Will he roll back the tax concessions implemented a couple of years ago as part of a fiscal stimulus package? Will he announce populist social sector spending in view of the major state polls coming up this year? Will he be too timid and not take any bold steps...

In a major relief to farmers and Exporters, the Centre on Wednesday slashed the minimum export price (MEP) for onions by 25 per cent to $450 a tonne from $600. “Minimum Export Price of onions other than Bangalore Rose onions and Krishnapuram will be $450 per tonne freight on board,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Last month, the government had lifted a ban on onion exports after...

Punjab and Haryana have asked the government to declare a minimum farmgate price for the Pusa 1121 variety of basmati in order to protect farmers from price fluctuations. This is the first time that such a demand has been raised for basmati. The proposed farmgate price is similar to the government support price declared for key crops to protect interests of growers. The request that the government declare a minimum...

In an address to the Berlin Agriculture Ministers meeting last month, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy said export restrictions are a prime cause of recent surges in global food prices, and countries should find other ways of securing domestic supplies (“WTO chief: Alternatives to food export curbs needed”, Business Standard, January 23). Though export restrictions are an important contributor to rising food prices, they are by no...

The commerce department has urged policymakers to lift export curbs on all varieties of non-basmati rice, which will ensure parity in the treatment of rice producers across the country. Earlier this month, the government allowed export of 1.5 lakh tonnes of the premium varieties Sona Masoori, Ponni and Matta, all grown in the southern states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The department has communicated to the empowered...