Onion prices double in Delhi-NCR amid festive season, traders say it may cross ₹100 if...
₹25-30 per kg to ₹55-60 per kg in the days following Navratri. There are now concerns that the kitchen staple will breach the ₹100-mark in the coming days. Reports citing traders based in the national capital's key vegetable markets stressed the need to urgently address the supply shortage.
Onions were being sold for at ₹25-30 per kg in the national capital till last week. But as supply dwindled, traders said that prices have surged to ₹55-60 per kg over the past three days. In some markets, the rates have jumped to as high as ₹65-70 per kg.
Vegetable vendors at the Ghazipur market told ANI that prices could breach the ₹100 mark if the supply shortage was not addressed. An official from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs explained that prices had increased due to the late arrival of fresh harvest from key producing states such as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. This was reiterated by traders at the Ghazipur market, who said that the low inflow of onions has resulted in higher selling rates.
“Today the rates are ₹350 (per 5 kg). Yesterday, it was ₹300. It was ₹200 before that.
A week ago, the rates were ₹200, ₹160 or ₹250. The rates have gone up in the last week because of a shortage in supply," ANI quoted a trader as saying. In a bid to keep the prices under control, the government has procured 5.07 lakh metric tonnes of onion, consumer affairs ministry sources told the news agency.
The process is underway to procure another 3 lakh metric tonnes. Apart from Delhi-NCR, the surge in onion prices has also been witnessed in other markets of the country. In Karnataka, the rate has spiked by around 50 percent.
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