Onion prices remain high in Delhi; govt offers solution

The wholesale price of onions at the vegetables and fruits market here is between Rs 60- Rs 80 per kg. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India are offloading onion from the Central buffer stock to spur the supply and cut down the prices.

New Delhi: The wholesale price of onions at the vegetables market in East Delhi has skyrocketed and is expected to remain inflated for a few days.

According to reports, the retail price of the staple item in Indian kitchens have shot up to around Rs 70 per kg in the national capital.

Due to short supply, onion sold at Rs 50 per kg in wholesale, while in retail, it touched as high as Rs 75 per kg at many places in Delhi-NCR.

ETV Bharat spoke to the vendors and consumers, at the Pandav Nagar vegetable market, about the impact of price rise and its effect on Indian household.

"People are buying in less quantity. Because of the price rise, the demand for onions have come down," a vendor said. Besides, in the vegetable market, the number of onion vendors have also reduced.

"We have stopped buying onions as the prices have shot up. We urge both the state and Centre government to look into this," a consumer said.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India are offloading onion from the Central buffer stock to spur the supply and cut down the prices.

The Delhi government is expected to sell the buffer onion through its civil supplies outlets and ration shops.

The President of the Onion Merchants Association of Azadpur mandi, Rajendra Sharma said the main reason behind the high onion prices is its short supply because of the heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh and southern parts of India.

Read: Onions turn costlier than apples in Delhi