Onion prices skyrocket, cross Rs 80 in some markets

Onion prices have shot up to Rs 80 per kg in some markets. 

This comes on the back of a Rs 400 rise in the price of wholesale onions in Lasalgaon, Nashik, to Rs 4,900 per quintal. 

Onion prices have shot up on consistent demand amid sluggish production and supply this year. 

The monsoon season has failed to pick up this year, and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had recently maintained the monsoon deficit at 10% this year, which means that the spike in onion prices is probably here to stay, on the back of a bad crop. Even supply from warehouses has been sluggish so far. 

"Going forward, onion prices are expected to rise further due to delay in arrival of the new crop. The upward trend will remain for some weeks," Azadpur Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) member Rajendra Sharma told PTI.

The onion rate at the mandis in Delhi is ruling firm because wholesale traders are getting the commodity at very high prices from key growing states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, he explained.

There is onion stock in these states, but rates quoted are very high, he added.

(With agencies)