Govt fixes $450/ tn MEP on potato exports

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SME Times News Bureau | 27 Jun, 2014
As part of its inflation-control strategy, the government Thursday imposed a Minimum Export Price (MEP) of USD 450 per tonne on potatoes to increase supply in the domestic market and lower prices, reports media.

Annually around 1-2 lakh tonne of potatoes are exported to various destinations. With a view to check the rising prices and augment domestic supplies, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has decided to impose an MEP of USD 450 per tonne.

As part of the government's effort to rein in food prices, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced that the government would impose export curbs in the form of higher MEP on onions and potatoes.

While the MEP on onion of USD 300 per tonne was notified on June 17, the same on potatoes was announced today.

As per the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the month of May, there has been an increase of 40 percent in the wholesale price of potatoes as compared to their prices in March. Similarly, there was an increase of 30 percent in the retail price of potatoes for the same period.

Further, rates of potatoes saw an increase of 37 percent to 114 percent from March till June in the four metro cities of the country.