Although Delhi –NCR residents are relieved from the sky-high prices of onion, now it’s Chennai people’s turn who are suffering the most due to the sudden hike in onion price which is touching nearly Rs. 100 per kg, which has literally made people cry in Chennai. The supply of onion has dropped due to heavy rain in the key producing places.
“I just got two kgs of onions for ₹200. It was just ₹50 a month ago”, said a consumer in Chennai.
Onion is a must addition in daily food, she added. In the wholesale Koyambedu market, onion price touched a high of ₹80 a kg, up by nearly ₹25 compared to two weeks ago, said P Sugumar, Treasurer, Koyambedu Vegetable, Fruit and Flower Merchants Welfare Association. A year ago, at this time the price was around ₹30 per kg, he told.
As per reports, Koyambedu gets nearly 50 percent of onion supply from Nashik in Maharashtra (best quality); 30 percent from Bellary in Karnataka (second-best) and 20 percent from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The supply of onion has dropped by nearly half in the last few days due to heavy rain in Nashik.
State Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju said that the shortage due to heavy rain in the key producing centers of Nashik, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka is the major reason behind this scarcity. He agreed that the retail price has touched nearly ₹60 and that the State government is monitoring the situation continues to see that the price does not increase further.
Moreover, Chief Minister of the state, Edapaddi K Palaniswami instructed officials to take all efforts to arrest the increase in onion prices. “Our officials are chasing those who have hoarding large quantities of onion. We will have good news in the next two days,” he added.
