Mumbai: Onion prices at a four-year high; makes consumers cry

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The sharp increase in onion prices is a cause of concern as the kitchen staple is now priced at Rs 70-80 per kilograms in Mumbai and traders feel that the prices may go up further in the days to come. The cost of the vegetable went up by 33 per cent price last week and over 70 per cent in the month of September. The price rise is said to be at a four-year-high

What has caused the price rise of onions

Heavy rains in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, western Madhya Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan have led to the destruction of onion crops hitting the production quantity. Traders further said that though the supply of stored onion of the previous year's crop was sufficient in the country, supply shortage has caused the rise in prices as transportation has been affected because of heavy rains. The skyrocketing prices of onions have pushed retail markets in Mumbai to trade at Rs 60 per kilogram on reduced supply from wholesale markets.

Also Read: Nashik: Onions worth Rs 1 lakh stolen from farmer's store house

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Set to hit a century?

According to few predictions by traders, due to the steady upward prices rise onion price may touch Rs 100 per kg very soon. At present, last year's stored onions are sold in the markets across the country as the stock of the fresh summer Kharif crop is said to reach the markets by November. In Maharashtra's Lasalgaon, Asia's largest wholesale onion market in, the price of the vegetable saw a marginal decline at Rs 41per kilograms compared to Rs 45 per kilogram last week. Moreover, the onion supply in the wholesale markets in Mumbai is said to have plunged from 2500 tonnes from the peak arrival season to just 140 tonnes.

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Government steps in

The Centre has said earlier to have taken measures to curb the onion prices by offloading their buffer stock through their agricultural produce marketing agencies. The NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) and the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited) are said to be pricing the produce at around Rs 22 per kilograms. As the central government is said to have 56,000 tonnes as buffer stock, 16,000 tonnes is said to have been offloaded so far with some of them being sold in these government-run agencies. The centre also is said to have advised against the exporting onion due to risen export prices. It also has withdrawn incentives in the bid to crackdown on the illegal sales in the black market. The government is also said to be planning to put a clamp on the stock of onions to boost physical supply to wholesale markets. With a surge of this record, wholesalers are reportedly now asking the government to levy subsidy on onions as the prices are predicted to crash once the fresh stocks arrive.

Here's how the Twitterati responded on alarmingly skyrocketing prices of onions with some taking a dig at the ruling BJP government.

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