New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS): The Commerce Ministry on Sunday prohibited export of all varieties of onions with immediate effect, till it comes up with further orders.

The decision comes on the backdrop of surging prices of the bulb in the country.

"Export policy of onion for the item description at Serial Number 51 and 52 of Chapter 7 of Schedule 2 of ITC (HS) classification of Export and Import Items is amended from free to prohibited till further orders," a Commerce Ministry notification said.

Onion prices have skyrocketed off late and are hovering around Rs 60-80 in the retail market.

The Centre has assured to meet the supply gap and on Friday, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan tweeted: "The demand for any quantity will be fulfilled immediately," tweeted.

Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Tripura and Odisha are reported to have demanded onions from the Centre.

"Nafed sent 10 trucks of onions to Haryana yesterday (Thursday) and another 5 trucks are being sent today (Friday) as per their demand. The Delhi government has also demanded 4 trucks of onions Saturday onwards and these is being made available to them," the minister's tweet added.

The Delhi government too on Friday had announced that onions in the city will be sold at Rs 23.90 per kg through mobile vans and at ration shops from Saturday.