BackAs average onion price in Delhi touches ₹78 per kg, it declines by 4.5% in Maharashtra
The government said on Monday that its move to impose Minimum Export Price on onions “has shown an immediate impact of price correction in Maharashtra markets, where prices recorded a decline of 5 percent to 9 percent from the highest price registered during last week”.
PremiumThe average price of onions hovered at ₹78 per kilogram in the retail market in Delhi on Monday, as per the government data. Meanwhile, the all-India average price of onion touched around ₹50.35 per kg, the data showed.
The minimum rate was ₹17 per kg, the maximum rate was ₹83 per kg and the modal price was ₹60 per kg, news agency PTI reported while citing the data compiled by the Department of Consumer Affairs on Monday.
As the prices of onions soared across the nations, local vendors sold the commodity at ₹80 per kg. The key kitchen item was available at ₹74-75 per kg on e-commerce portals Bigbasket, Blinkit and Otipy.
According to the Hindustan Times, the government predicted that the price will continue to remain high till December when the Kharif crop will be available in the market. Consumers and traders too feared that the cost of onion may soar to over ₹100 in the coming days.
Not just in Delhi, but onion prices have also spiked in other states including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
What India is doing to control onion prices?
The Centre imposed a Minimum Export Price (MEP) of $800 per tonne on onion exports with effect from October 29 till December 31 to boost the availability of the vegetable in the domestic market.
The $800 per tonne MEP translates into about ₹67 per kg. The MEP is there for all varieties of onion except Bangalore Rose and Krishnapuram onions, and for cut, sliced or broken in powder forms.
The Centre also announced on Saturday that it would procure an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion for the buffer, over and above the 5 lakh tonnes already procured.
An official statement issued on Saturday said that the step to impose MEP will help maintain sufficient availability of onion to domestic consumers at affordable prices as the quantity of stored Rabi 2023 onion is declining.
The Department of Consumer Affairs is also monitoring onion exports and prices on a daily basis "to ensure stable domestic prices and availability to consumers", the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a press release on Monday.
Besides, the department started releasing Onion Buffer stock into the market - both through mandi sale and discounted sale - to retail consumers at centres of high prices.
"This includes retail sales through 685 Mobile retail outlets covering over 170 cities. NAFED and NCCF have also started procuring additional 2 LMT onion of Kharif harvest to be distributed in high price centres to keep the onion prices under control and consumers interest is protected," the department said.
The impact: ‘Price correction in Maharashtra markets’
"The Centre’s intervention on Onion Minimum Export Price arrests price rise in domestic markets," the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a press release on Monday.
The government said its move to impose the MEP "has shown an immediate impact of price correction in Maharashtra markets, where prices recorded a decline of 5 percent to 9 percent from the highest price registered during last week".
The government added that the weighted average price of Onion in Maharashtra across all the markets declined by 4.5 percent and a similar decline was observed in consumption centers as well.
Why are onion prices skyrocketing?
The stored Rabi onion is getting exhausted and there has been a delay in the arrival of the Kharif onion. These two conditions have led to a tight supply situation, which has further resulted in an increase in onion prices in both wholesale and retail markets.
Last week, a government official was quoted by PTI as saying that the delay in the sowing of Kharif onion due to weather conditions resulted in less coverage and late arrival of the crop. "The fresh Kharif onion should have started arriving by now but it has not," the official said.
An onion trader at Ghazipur vegetable market was quoted by ANI as saying, "The inflow of the onion is low resulting in high rates. Today the rates are Rs. 350 (per 5 Kg). Yesterday, it was Rs. 300. It was Rs. 200 before that. A week ago, rates were Rs. 200, Rs. 160 or Rs. 250 etc. The rates have gone up in the last week. The rates have risen due to a shortage in supply..."
(With inputs from agencies)
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