Soaring onion prices make consumer cry, government to boost supply

Prices of the base ingredient of Indian dishes, onions has risen sharply within a week, making consumers cry and government to announce emergency steps to boost supply.

As per data released by the consumer affairs ministry, average retail onion prices for last week ranged from ₹57 per kg in Delhi, which is nearly a 90% increase from regular prices, to ₹48 per kg in Kolkata.

On Tuesday, onion prices continued their upward surge and are being sold for ₹75-80 per kg in Mumbai and Delhi in retail markets. While in Bengaluru, Chennai and Dehradun prices touched ₹60 per kg, in Hyderabad retailers were selling onions for ₹41-46 per kg.

According to data reported by the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), wholesale prices of onions were highest in Patna.

Market watchers say rise in the onion’s price is directly linked to the crunch in supply that was broken due to heavy rains in some part of the country and farmers resentment in onion-hubs like Nasik.

According to media reports, due to loss of onion crop for three consecutive years, farmers had thrown their crops on roads in Nasik. They have lowered the production also.

Government data show that onion production in 2019 nearly halved in comparison to 2018.

The situation is expected to remain the same for at least a month. By mid-December, it is expected that the prices of the most common ingredient of Indian food will come down.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government would bring down the price of the key kitchen staple to ₹24 per kg in the next 10 days through augmented supplies.

“We are trying to procure onions from all sources that are available to us and tenders have been floated for the transportation of onions,” he was reported as saying.

Meanwhile, as per a report published in the Economic Times, the Centre is mulling imposing stock limits on onion traders to check soaring prices. States are stepping up checks on wholesale traders to crack down on potential hoarding, claimed various media reports.