Onion prices still rule high at Rs 70/kg in Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 27: Retail prices of onion in the national capital remained high on Tuesday at Rs 70 a kg due to lower supplies in the wholesale market.
Traders
said
the
wholesale
prices
of
the
kitchen
staple
are
ruling
firm
at
Rs
45-50
per
kg
as
supplies
from
producing
regions
have
been
lower
in
the
past
couple
of
days.
"Supply continues to be below normal, due to which prices are high," Onion Merchant Traders Association President Surendra Budhiraj said. At present, about 40-50 trucks are entering the market as against 60-70 trucks earlier, he added.
Street vendors charge anything between Rs 55 and Rs 70 for one kg of onion in Delhi, depending on the locality and quality of the bulb, a key ingredient in most food items.
In a bid to ease high onion prices -- a politically sensitive issue -- cooperative major Nafed has been asked to import onions to boost domestic supplies. The vegetable's prices recently touched Rs 80 a kg. Organised retailer Mother Dairy is selling onions at around Rs 50 per kg through its 400 Safal outlets in the NCR.
Nafed is offering a price of Rs 40 per kg through its 5 outlets and mobile vans. At Lasalgaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra, a major producing region, prices have risen by Rs 3 per kg to Rs 43 per kg today, and supplies have come down to 3750 qunitals from 4,249 quintals last week, according to National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) data.
"Prices will remain high as farmers and traders are going to keep supplies under stress to maintain high level of onion prices," a senior official of NHRDF said.
PTI