MUMBAI: India will impose with immediate effect a 40% export duty on onions up to December 31 in an attempt to improve domestic availability of the vegetable, the ministry of finance said in a notification on Saturday.

India’s annual retail inflation rose sharply to a 15-month high of 7.44% in July from 4.87% the previous month.

Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, hit 11.51%. Retail food inflation was at its highest since January 2020.

India to take medium-term view to curb inflation

Prices of some of the most used vegetables in Indian kitchens, including tomatoes, onions, peas, brinjal, garlic and ginger, have more than doubled in the last few months.

India is heading for its driest August in more than a century, with scant rainfall likely to persist across large areas, partly because of the El Niño weather pattern, two weather department officials told Reuters on Friday.

August rainfall, expected to be the lowest since records began in 1901, could dent yields of summer-sown crops, from rice to soybeans, boosting prices and overall food inflation, which jumped in July to the highest since January 2020.