Kathmandu. As the consumer demand for potatoes, a staple in most Indian kitchens, has risen along with the price, the Indian government has decided to turn towards Bhutan in order to meet the supply gap in the market. The centre is set to import almost 30,000 tonnes of potatoes to address the shortage of the vegetable before Diwali, and calm the raging prices.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), issued an order on Friday for the unobstructed import of potatoes from the small Himalayan state, without license. The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has commented that, “Some 30,000 tonnes of potato will start arriving from Bhutan in the next few days.” As per the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the average retail price of potatoes in October was Rs 39.30 per kg, the highest to be recorded in 130 months. According to The Wire, the prime reasons for the hike in prices, that is resultant from the current shortage, is the lack of the cold storage units and the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The report includes the statement of the Ministry of Agriculture, as it has previously cautioned that, “In view of lesser storage, there may be a possibility of rise in prices once the lockdown fully lifts, and especially in the coming months.” The price of potatoes is currently considered to be in between Rs. 40 to Rs. 45 across the Indian regions.

As the retail prices of the vegetables are increasing in the advent of a major festive season within the state, the government has also planned to continue importing onions and pulses. Goyal has claimed that after importing 7,000 tonnes of onions, the centre was looking towards bringing in 25,000 tonnes more before Diwali. It has also sought to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mozambique and Myanmar to import pulses. The MoU would pave the path to import 200,000 tonnes of toor (pigeon pea) per annum, from Mozambique for five years, and 250,000 tonnes of urad (black gram) from Myanmar, for the next five years, as well.

Goyal has stated that the price of onions, which had skyrocketed in the past month, has fallen after certain import rules were relaxed, and the centre hoped to do the same for the import of the potatoes. He noted that the average price of onions were stable at Rs. 65 for the past few days. “After we eased quarantine and fumigation norms for onion imports, around 7,000 tonnes of onions have already been imported by private players. Another 25,000 tonnes will reach by Diwali to moderate prices and ensure easy availability. Apart from that, Nafed is also working on proposal to import onions through private players,” he added.

The government has also decided to employ the tariff rate quota system for importing potatoes in a different order, wherein the import of the product is allowed at a low or zero rate of duty. A single application will be considered against one import-export code, and sellers who qualify will have to ensure that the product shipment reaches the Indian ports on or before January 31, 2021. Goyal mentioned, that the centre has, “opened a quota for importing 10 lakh tonnes of potatoes at 10% duty valid till January 2021. The import duty on potatoes otherwise is 30%.”

The Minister has maintained that they were prepared to import “10 lakh tonnes” of potatoes in order to get the prices back under control. Generally, potatoes fall under the restricted category, that entails that the importer would need to obtain a license from the DGFT for the shipments.