Import of onion from India begins through Hili Land Port under Hakimpur upazila in Dinajpur district.

The import began through the entry of 123 metric tons of onion on board four large trucks paying 20 per cent duty and 405 US dollar for each metric ton on Tuesday (September 17) evening.

Those onions were imported by Messrs Shawkat Traders, Messrs Sumaiya Enterprise and Messrs BK Traders.

Traders at Hili Land Port said since onion supply has increased substantially in Indian market, New Delhi on September 13 last lowered import duty on onion from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, and refixed the export price of per ton of onion at 405 US dollar reducing by 145 US dollar from the previous price of 550 US dollar. Indian commerce ministry published a notice in this regard. As the notice was not connected to the Indian customs server, import of onion remained suspended over the last two days. Import began on Tuesday overcoming all the complexities. "We hope that the onion price will go down with the rise in import in the days ahead," a trader said.