After leaving consumers bleeding for more than a month, onion prices are expected to come down by itself in a week once fresh inflow of red onion from Nasik (Maharashtra) Mandi makes way in State markets post Makar Sankranti. However, Government’s whole exercise and willingness of curbing onion prices via selling onion through PDS dealers and fuel stations took backstage until current financial year ends on March 31.
“Wholesale onion import prices from major markets outside State are standing still at around Rs 33-3500 per quintal since some time after reaching up to Rs 4500-4800 per quintal in December last year. This high purchase price for wholesalers left retailers in city and other parts of State with no other alternative than to sell onion at nothing less than Rs 45 per Kg on prevailing rates. Now that fresh inflow from Nasik market is expected just after Makar Sankranti which falls on January 14, we will see prices falling considerably down below Rs 25 per Kg or even less in a week,” said Amit Utkarsh who runs a wholesale onion store on his name in city.
Notably, the Government during August-September last year planned intervention in curbing rising onion prices during those days via selling onion through fuel stations of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and others in city and Public Distribution System (PDS) stores across the State. “But as it was a large-scale and time taking task and we were inching towards closure of financial year, we had to drop the idea of execution of our plans. The union government has to fund 50 percent of the cost of any such intervention of curbing price rise, we decided to start process only after the end of current financial year,” said Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Minister Saryu Roy on Thursday. The Minister added that fuel retailing companies were ready to participate in the exercise whenever Government was ready, and the plan to sell onion through those channels will be started at pilot level with mix of some PDS stores and some fuel retailing stations from as early as end of April.