Stunned by the alarming increase in onion prices, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has petitioned Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar to curtail the export of onions in order to stabilise onion prices and increase its arrival in the National Capital.
The Delhi Government has also directed its officials to take action against hoarders of onions. The Government is also going to request neighbouring States Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and also Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan to take similar action against hoarders of onions.
In a bid to provide cheaper onion at the doorsteps of citizens, the Delhi Government has decided to arrange sale of onions at reasonable rates through 50 mobile vans across the city. The vans would be visiting various localities to ensure sale of onion at the doorstep of citizens.
Meanwhile, onion prices remained high at Rs 70-80 per kg in Delhi on Tuesday even though wholesale rates fell by Rs 5 per kg on increased supply.
In upmarket colonies, onion, a key ingredient in many Indian dishes, cost as high as Rs 70-80 a kg. Mother Dairy’s 350 outlets in NCR were selling the commodity at Rs 52 per kg. The Government outlets are selling onion at Rs 45 per kg.
Traders say the July-August stock of onion from Maharashtra, Rajathan and Madhya Pradesh is normally sent to Southern states and thus causing a shortfall in across the country.
It is expected that by the end of the current month, onion prices will start to dip with the arrival of the fresh stock. A high-level joint meeting was convened by Food and Supplies Minister Harun Yusuf and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan to find a way out of the rising trend in onion prices.
During the meeting, officials suggested that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit should request Pawar to curtail export of onion to stabilise prices and increase arrival in the capital.
The officials also informed that the Ministry of Commerce has convened a meeting on Wednesday to decide whether ban on export of onion will be imposed or not.
“Even, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is in favour of banning the export of onion. The prices will come down if the Government decides to ban export of onion. If ban is not imposed, the prices will be high,” officials said.
The arrival in Delhi used to be around 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes per day whereas it has gone down up to 800 to 1000 tonnes per day. Officials say that the shortfall in arrival is due to rains in onion producing states. During July and August, onion comes from Maharashtra region to Delhi. Traders say the prices of onion was deliberately increased in the country in view of floods in Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other parts of northern areas.
According to Yusuf, per day normal arrival in Delhi has substantially gone down and in order to mitigate the effect of soaring onion prices, the Delhi Government has decided to arrange sale of onions at reasonable rates through 50 mobile vans across the city. The food and supplies department and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) have been requested to work in tandem to start deployment of vans by August 17.
APMC general secretary Rajender Sharma stated that supplies were normal on Tuesday as a result of that prices marginally came down to Rs 45-50 per kg from the Monday level of Rs 50-55 per kg in the Azadpur mandi. Onion’s prices on Monday had shot up by Rs 10 per kg to Rs 50-55 per kg in the Azadpur Mandi on lower supply.