After a day's pause in across-the-border trade in vegetables, about 190 Indian trucks carrying tomatoes, green chillies, soyabean and ginger today crossed over to Pakistan via Attari-Wagah land route, a senior official said today.
"About 190 trucks of perishable items today crossed over to Pakistan carrying tomatoes, green chillies, soyabean and ginger," assistant customs commissioner RK Duggal, who is posted at Attari border, said.
The city-based vegetable exporters yesterday had refused to send trucks carrying tomatoes and other vegetables to Pakistan in retaliation to Islamabad banning onion exports via land route. This decision was taken collectively by about 40 vegetables exporters.
India is a major vegetables exporter to Pakistan. Of the total exports via land route, tomatoes account 30-32%. soybean has a share of 55 per cent. Chilly, ginger, potatoes, capsicum, biscuits and raw cotton account for the rest.
Exports from India to Pakistan through Attari-Wagah land route have almost doubled to Rs 840 crore during April-December 2010 from Rs447 crore in corresponding period in the previous year.
A sudden ban by Pakistan on export of onion via land route had hit traders in both the countries. Indian importers claimed that Pakistan had not even allowed supply of orders contracted before the restriction was imposed.
Indian traders had also claimed that vegetable suppliers in Pakistan had also shut down their business to protest the ban.
Notably, close to 7,000 tonnes of onion had arrived since the commencement of onion export to India from Pakistan via land route.
Thanks to supply of Pakistani onion, prices of the commodity in Punjab and Chandigarh had come down to Rs45-50 per kg from from Rs60-65 per kg.
