Prices of onion have once again gone up by around 50 per cent from Rs 30-40 per kg to Rs 50-80 per kg due to uneven distribution and supply in the wholesale markets across the country and floods in major supplying States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Taking note of increasing onion prices, the NDA Government is mulling imposing stock limits on onion traders.
Onion prices are on the rise despite several measures taken by the Ministry of Food and Consumers Affairs to boost supply. The onion supply is expected to improve in November when the new crop will come in the market. The Centre has a buffer stock of 56,000 tonnes of onion, of which 16,000 tonnes have been offloaded so far. In Delhi, 200 tonnes a day is being offloaded.
The trade data showed retail onion prices skyrocketing to Rs 70-80 per kg towards the end of the last week from Rs 50-60 per kg in the previous week. At wholesale market of Lasalgoan, onion prices rose to Rs 45 per kg last week, when compared with less than Rs 10/kg during the same period last year.
The retail onion prices in Delhi and National Capital Region(NCR) areas are Rs 50-80 per kg depending on the localities and quality. “Onion prices have almost doubled in the last 7 to 10 days.
Earlier the wholesale price of onion was Rs 15 per kilogram, now it is being sold at Rs 30 to Rs 45,” said Rajendra Sharma, a wholesaler of Delhi’s biggest Azadpur wholesale vegetable market. Sharma attributed the difference in demand and supply due to floods in several states behind the hike. “Supply is less than demand. Due to rains in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, there is a shortage of onions in Delhi,” he said.
According to the Ministry, the retail onion prices rose to Rs 50-60 per kg in Delhi, Rs 50-70 per kg in Mumbai, Rs 45-60 per kg in Kolkata and Rs 40-50 per kg in Chennai last week. The prices were quoted at Rs 60/kg in Gurgram and Jammu during the same period. The retail onion prices were high in posh colonies across the country.
Right now, stored onions are sold in most parts of the country as fresh kharif (summer) crop will hit the market from November onwards, traders said. Traders further said that there is enough supply of stored onion of the previous year’s crop in the country but its transportation has been affected because of heavy rains.
Much of the onion is stored in Maharashtra, where rains disrupted the transport of the kitchen staple to other parts of the country, said a wholesale trader from Lasalgoan in Maharasthra, Asia’s largest onion market.
Sources said that the government has taken several measures in the last few weeks to improve the domestic supply and check further increase in prices of onion. “However, retail prices have suddenly shot up in the last 2-3 days because of supply disruption due to excess rains in the growing states,” sources added.
It is a short-term supply disruption and if the situation does not normalise in the next 2-3 days and prices rise, then the government may consider seriously imposing stock holding limits on onion traders, the source said.
According to the Meteorological Department, main onion producing regions especially Maharasthra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, eastern Rajasthan and western Madhya Pradesh have received excess monsoon rainfalls in the last two days.
The Centre has taken several measures to arrest the prices of onion in Delhi and other parts of the country. It is offloading onion from its buffer stock through agencies like Nafed and NCCF which are selling at around Rs 22/kg and state-run Mother Dairy at Rs 23.90 per kg in the national capital
The state governments have been asked to boost supply in their states lifting central buffer stock. Some states like Delhi, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh have shown interest so far.
Besides, the Centre has discouraged export of onion by increasing the minimum export price and withdrawing incentives. It is also cracking down on blackmarketeers. Besides rains, prices are under pressure on likely fall in kharif production of this year owing to less planted area under onion on account of excess rains, the sources added.
