The sharp increase in prices of onion because of supply shortage has forced the Delhi government to take corrective measures to reduce the burden on the common man. The retail price of onions have increased from Rs. 40 / kg to Rs. 60 and 70 in Delhi in a week.
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister yesterday said that the government will supply onions at Rs. 24/kg across the city through mobile vans. Kejriwal said, "We are about to take a step regarding the increasing onion prices in the city. We are procuring onions & we'll try to supply them in the maximum areas across Delhi via mobile vans. Tenders have been floated for the transportation of onions and I believe we will begin supplying at the soonest”.
Onions costlier than Apples
At present, onions are costlier than the apples at wholesale markets in the national capital. Onion is being sold at Rs. 50 / kg while the seasonal apple of average quality is sold at Rs. 30 to 40 / kg in the market.
The Central government has also stepped in to make sure that there is sufficient supply of onions in the market. To restrict export of oil, the government has fixed its minimum export price (MEP) at $850 FOB (free on board) / tonne.
Ram Vilas Paswan, Food & Consumer Affairs Minister said that the crisis was a temporary phase that arose because of supply disruption due to floods in main-growing states like Karnataka and Maharashtra. He said, "It is a temporary phase. Every year we face this price rise problem in 3 main perishable commodities onion, tomato and potato. This year, it is onion. However, we have sufficient supply in our buffer”.
India has enough onion production and the government has also created a buffer stock of 56,000 tonne to address any shortages, minister said.
It must be noted that the prices of vegetable went up across the country last week because of supply shortage from major onion growing states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The shortage in supply was attributed to the recent floods in these regions.
Current prices of onions
According to the data maintained by Consumer Affairs Ministry, the retail onion prices are at Rs. 57 per kg in Delhi; Rs. 56 per kg in Mumbai; Rs. 48 per kg in Kolkata and Rs. 34 per kg in Chennai.
