Onion prices steady; tomato, garlic rates still ruling high

Onion prices stayed unchanged at Rs40-50 a kg in the retail markets of the four metros today, while prices of tomato and garlic continued to remain a cause for worry for households across the country.

There was no change in the retail prices of onion despite a marginal rise in wholesale rates in prominent onion market yards at Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra.

Onion sold at yesterday's level of Rs10-37.5 a kg in Azadpur, Asia's biggest wholesale fruits and vegetables market, chairman Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board, Braham Yadav told PTI.

There was a rise in wholesale rates of onion in Lasalgaon which sold at Rs47 a kg from Rs35 a kg on Saturday, sources in APMC Nashik said. Wholesale prices of the root vegetable was Rs38 per kg today.

Prices of tomato and garlic continued to remain high at Rs40-60/kg and Rs250-300/kg respectively in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Meanwhile, agri-cooperative Nafed, NCCF (National Consumers Cooperative Federation) and Kendriya Bhandar, which along with Mother Dairy, were selling onion at Rs40 a kg since December 20 when the rates of the vegetable had zoomed to Rs70-80 in the national capital, lowered the price today by Rs5 per kg to Rs35 a kg.

Mother Dairy, however, continued to sell onion from its 300 outlets in Delhi at the old rate of Rs40 a kg.

"We are concentrating more on quality of onion made available to customers than on rates. Onions are being sent out to outlets only after proper sorting," Mother Dairy chief operating officer Sunil Bansal said.

Besides the 300 outlets of Mother Dairy, Nafed and NCCF are selling onion through their 25 outlets and Kendriya Bhandar (about 75) in the national capital.

The retail prices of onion had fallen by Rs10 a kg yesterday from Saturday's level of Rs50-60/kg after which people had hoped that the downhill trend would continue with every passing day.

The climbdown had started after government intervened with measures like a ban on exports, abolition of import duty and asking state government's to crackdown on onion hoarders.

Sources in Nafed, Kendriya Bhandar and Mother Dairy said they are not getting any subsidy for selling onion at lower rates to tide over the situation arising due to soaring of the politically sensitive commodity at Rs70-85 last week.

"We are incurring our own expenditure in purchasing onion from open market and making it available at our outlets at cheaper rates," sources in the three agencies said.

Tomato sold at Rs40-50/kg in the national capital in retail markets today, the same as it was for more than a week.

Tomatoes were sold at Rs40/kg today in Kolkata, traders said. It cost Rs60 for a kg in the financial capital Mumbai and Rs44-50/kg in Chennai.

Rates of garlic, which is used both as a vegetable and to make Ayurvedic medicines, have increased sharply to Rs300/kg at present in Delhi, compared to Rs160-180 per kg a month back, trade sources said.

The commodity was being traded in the range of Rs250-280 a kg earlier this week. However, the price has gone up to Rs300 a kg since Friday.

Meanwhile, sale of garlic illegally managed from China via Nepal by some traders continued in the Azadpur market as in the past.

Sources in the Azadpur market claimed that in order to cash in on the exorbitant prices of garlic (at Rs300 a kg in retail and Rs120-180/kg in the wholesale market), some traders were illegally bringing garlic from China into the country via Nepal.

India had banned import of garlic from China two years ago following the detection of fungus in consignments of Chinese garlic.

From the Himalayan states, it is being transported to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Coimbatore through trains from Bihar, which shares a border with Nepal, they claimed.

The price rise of all three crops has been attributed to unseasonal rains in the major producing regions.

However, in the case of onions, a politically sensitive item, the government has also blamed hoarding and speculation.

Meanwhile, Lucknow and Kanpur district administrations in Uttar Pradesh have decided to provide onion at lower rates to provide relief to the common man.

Lucknow district administration has announced that it will sell onion at Rs22-24 a kg through 25 outlets.

Likewise, Kanpur administration started selling onion in more than 50 outlets at the rate of Rs22 from today. District magistrate Mukesh Meshram said people will be given two kgs of onion on each ration card.