Action ordered against hoarders to check onion price hike

An onion godown at Pimpalgaon in Nashik district. File pic/Ashish Raje

While low prices of onions and the ban on their export are said to have hit the Mahayuti in North Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections, the high cost of onions has added to the ruling alliance's worries ahead of the Assembly polls. Sensing trouble, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered action against the hoarders under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980.

A release from the CM's team said that since the common people were being hit by rising onion prices, Shinde had taken serious note of hoarding. "The Food and Civil Supplies Department has been asked to take action against traders who are hoarding onions beyond the permissible limit," it added.

According to the information available, onion retailers can stock only up to two tonnes, whereas wholesale traders are allowed to keep up to 25 tonnes. "However, the government has noticed that some traders have been hoarding onions beyond the permissible limit, resulting in the price hike," said the CMO, appealing to people to inform their district collector's office about the illegal hoarding of onions. It said the state government had been giving the onion farmers a grant of R350 per quintal, and so far, Rs 851 crore was disbursed.

At present, the onions are being sold at Rs 80 to Rs 00 per kg in the retail market. The hike is blamed on the demand-supply mismatch because the new stock has not hit the market. Interestingly, Maharashtra is the largest producer of onions in the country. The state's northern region has a kind of monopoly in production and trading. Insiders said that the October rains had impacted the kharif crop. The prices will stabilise in a couple of weeks with harvesting and normal supplies.

However, by the time prices stabilise, the November 20 polling would be over. In the Lok Sabha elections, it was traders and farmers who protested and made the government lift the export ban. This time, it is the consumers who are being given relief ahead of the Assembly polls.