Onion prices that have already shot up in the national Capital may soar even further as the Delhi Government has expressed helplessness in controlling them.
Already, retail onion prices have touched `80 per kg in some parts of Delhi bringing back memories of 2013 when onion was retailing at `100 per kg in some pockets.
The Arvind Kejriwal Government has contended that the market forces that decide the prices are not under its control.
To make matters worse, the anti-hoarding department of the Delhi Government has also failed to check hoarding. However, taking a serious note of the situation, the Arvind Kejriwal Government has decided to ration onions. This means, one can buy only one kg of onion from ration shops.
The AAP Government has also appealed Delhiites to not panic while buying of onions as sufficient stock is available and the State Government will continue selling it at `30 per kg at ration shops and through mobile vans till prices stabilise in open markets and at the national level, said sources.
Interestingly, onion prices in Delhi vary according to the locality. For instance, in South Delhi’s Saket area, onions are selling at 80 per kg. In Shalimar Bagh and Ramesh Nagar the price is `70 per kg. In unauthorised colonies in the trans-Yamuna area the average selling price has touched `60-65 per kilo while at some Delhi Government ration shops, onion is being sold at `30 per kg.
However, onion is not available at all ration shops across the city as at the moment Delhi is facing an onion shortfall of roughly 50 per cent and prices might continue to rise because of dry spells in onion producing States like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The problem is
further compounded by the fact that Delhi’s mandis also cater to neighbouring areas such as Noida, Faridabad and Ballabgarh.
Arrival of fresh stocks from other States normally eases supply constraints and puts a cap on prices, but this time that might not happen because onion prices have shot up everywhere due to the fact that unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms in February-March this year damaged 25 to 30 per cent of the standing crop, leading to a shortfall.
“To make matters worse, inconsistent rainfall now has led to low production, which sent prices soaring, and this trend will continue until September,” said Rajender Sharma, a committee member of Azadpur Mandi.
According to traders, arrivals have reduced rapidly due to extremely low quantity of onion left in stocks in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, where the city’s onion mainly comes from. Supply from Karnataka and Maharashtra will pick up only in the coming week but there is no possibility of lowering the prices.
Onion traders at Azadpur Mandi say that prices will not come down in the retail market in the coming days due to short supply. Since, the new season arrivals are over six to eight weeks away, stockists take this as an opportunity to sell their onions at a high price.
However, Development Minister Gopal Rai and Food and Supplies Minister Asim Ahmed Khan claimed that there was no shortage of onions in the wholesale markets of Delhi and the stocks were at the same level as they were last year at this time. “Around 1,000 tonne of onion is available in the open market, which is the same quantity as it was during this time last year,” they said. Rai also said that the Delhi Government has no control over market forces that decide the prices of onion.
Meanwhile, accusing Kejriwal of failing to keep prices under control, Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken said that AAP has done nothing to check rise of onion prices and hoarding in the city. “The AAP Government has not conducted any raid pertaining to onion hoarding in Delhi. Not only onion, prices of pulses and vegetables are soaring day by day,” Maken said. The Congress attributed the recent increase in VAT on diesel and petrol by the Kejriwal Government as the reason for rising onion prices.