The central government has initiated the procurement of an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onions from farmers in Maharashtra, following protests by Maharashtra farmers against the government's decision to impose a 40% export duty on onion sales. The announcement of this procurement was made after a meeting between Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde in Delhi.

Union Minister Goyal stated, "The central government always works in the best interest of farmers and buys their produce from time to time... To create a balance between farmers and consumers, the government has imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onion. This is to ensure domestic availability." The procurement is being carried out by the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED).