No end to onion price woe?
20 Aug 2013 5:19 AM IST
As sharp rise in onion prices continue to pinch consumers badly, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said he would not be able to say when the prices would ease as rain has hit supplies from key growing states.
Onions prices are still ruling at an unaffordable level, though rates have started softening both in the wholesale and retail markets across the country following government measures like allowing cooperative Nafed to import onions.
In the national capital, retail prices came down to Rs 60 per kg on Monday from Rs 80 per kg last week, while wholesale prices at Lasalgoan in Nashik district of Maharashtra have fallen to Rs 35.65 per kg now from the high of Rs 55 per kg. Wholesale onion prices on Monday fell by Rs 5 per kg in Delhi’s Azadpur market to Rs 35-40 per kg. There has been a decline of Rs 20 per kg in the wholesale prices over the last few days.
Asked when onion prices would cool down, Pawar said, ‘I don’t know about prices but I know about the crop condition. The crop in Nashik has been affected due to drought. As on Monday, the overall crop condition is good.’
Arrivals are expected any time from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but ‘these states are facing logistics problem due to rain,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of an ICAR event.
Earlier, the minister had said the rise in onion prices was a ‘temporary situation’ and prices would cool down once arrival begins from the key growing states.
To control rising prices, the government had imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $650 per tonne and had directed cooperative major NAFED to import onions.
Onion prices are likely to be under pressure till October when the new crop is expected to hit the market.
Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday slammed the opposition parties in Delhi for selling onions from 10 points across the national capital ‘to garner political mileage’.
Dikshit flanked by food and supplies minister Haroon Yusuf, development minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and agriculture secretary Ramesh Tiwari addressed a press conference where Dikshit said that her government is duty-bound to intervene in such unusual upward trend in prices of essential commodities.
The chief minister criticised opposition political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and accused them of indulging in ‘political gimmick’ with ‘no intent of helping people’.
The chief minister stated that her government has facilitated sale of onions from 1,000 points in Delhi.
Onions prices are still ruling at an unaffordable level, though rates have started softening both in the wholesale and retail markets across the country following government measures like allowing cooperative Nafed to import onions.
In the national capital, retail prices came down to Rs 60 per kg on Monday from Rs 80 per kg last week, while wholesale prices at Lasalgoan in Nashik district of Maharashtra have fallen to Rs 35.65 per kg now from the high of Rs 55 per kg. Wholesale onion prices on Monday fell by Rs 5 per kg in Delhi’s Azadpur market to Rs 35-40 per kg. There has been a decline of Rs 20 per kg in the wholesale prices over the last few days.
Asked when onion prices would cool down, Pawar said, ‘I don’t know about prices but I know about the crop condition. The crop in Nashik has been affected due to drought. As on Monday, the overall crop condition is good.’
Arrivals are expected any time from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but ‘these states are facing logistics problem due to rain,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of an ICAR event.
Earlier, the minister had said the rise in onion prices was a ‘temporary situation’ and prices would cool down once arrival begins from the key growing states.
To control rising prices, the government had imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $650 per tonne and had directed cooperative major NAFED to import onions.
Onion prices are likely to be under pressure till October when the new crop is expected to hit the market.
Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday slammed the opposition parties in Delhi for selling onions from 10 points across the national capital ‘to garner political mileage’.
Dikshit flanked by food and supplies minister Haroon Yusuf, development minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and agriculture secretary Ramesh Tiwari addressed a press conference where Dikshit said that her government is duty-bound to intervene in such unusual upward trend in prices of essential commodities.
The chief minister criticised opposition political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and accused them of indulging in ‘political gimmick’ with ‘no intent of helping people’.
The chief minister stated that her government has facilitated sale of onions from 1,000 points in Delhi.
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