Govt to import onion by air cargo 

To reign in skyrocketing prices of onion, the government has decided to import onion from Turkey by air on emergency basis, according to a press release issued by the Commerce Ministry on Friday. 

Apart from the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, some private organisations, including S Alam Group, have already completed all necessary formalities for importing the key cooking ingredient from Afghanistan and UAE through air cargo on emergency basis.

Breaking all the previous records, the price of onion jumped to Tk250 per kg in the domestic market on Friday, triggering outrage among consumers.

In this way, it will be possible to supply adequate amount of onions in the market with a short time, the release said. 

Besides, consignments of imported onions through waterway will reach the country soon.  

If anyone tries to stockpile onions and create artificial crisis, the government will take legal action against them, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, at a programme in Tangail on the day, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the government has already withdrawn duty on the import of onion. If necessary, his ministry is ready to provide financial help to the commerce ministry. 

On September 29, the government of India imposed a ban on the export of onion with immediate effect until further direction, to improve the domestic availability of onions. 

To deal with the situation, the government started importing onions from Myanmar. The imports from Egypt and Turkey started too.  

But, recently, Myanmar has also hiked onion prices that affected the Bangladeshi market too.