Businesses that import onions from India may find their supplies are disrupted after the government announced it was banning the export of onions from its shores with immediate effect.

A Ministry of Commerce and Industry statement released on Sunday (September 29th 2019) said supplies had been depleted due to months of rain and flood-like conditions in onion-producing states.

As such, it has banned the sale of its onions abroad in a bid to control soaring prices. India is currently one of the world's top exporters of onions.

The move has been widely criticised by analysts, who pointed out that similar tactics have been tried before, only for prices to plummet and farmers to be forced to seek support from the government.

New Delhi had already imposed a minimum export price per ton to control export shipments - which exporters insisted was too high - as well as withdrawing ten per cent export incentives on the vegetable in June.

Bangladesh's commerce ministry has said it is likely to look for onion exports from elsewhere, including Turkey, Egypt and China.

The United Arab Emirates and Malaysia are also major buyers of Indian onions that may seek their products in other countries.