Consumers across the country feel the pinch of rising prices of onion, as erratic rainfall in growing areas and thin stocks coupled with high demand pushes the prices further.
Vegetable sellers said the reason for the spurt in the price of onion was shortage of onions at the supply source.
Diwaker, a vegetable vendor in New Delhi said: “One of the main reasons for hike in onion prices is the shortage of supply from Madhya Pradesh. The ongoing shortage and price hike calls for an immediate solution and for this we may have to import onions from abroad to meet the demand of the consumers.
Onions are being sold at Rs. 55-60 per kilogram in Delhi.
Higher onion prices may also create fresh problems for the Government, which has been struggling over the past several months to contain inflation.
According to the vegetable vendors the price of onions is likely to go up further in the near future.
A vegetable vendor Suresh Choudary from Mumbai also said that the hike in onion price is mainly due to shortage of supply.
“There is not enough supply to meet the demand of the consumers. Two days ago the price of onions was Rs. 40 per kilogram and now it is being sold at Rs. 44-50 per kilogram and every 10 kilogram of onion is being sold for Rs. 450. And the prices are bound to increase more,” he said.
The rise in onion price is adversely affecting the household budget of the consumers.
One of the customers Jaysantha said that the onion prices have risen from Rs. 40 per kilogram to Rs. 60 per kilogram and added that it has become very difficult to buy onions.
Onion rates at Lasalgoan, in Nashik District which is the Asia's biggest wholesale market for onions have increased to Rs 31.50 per kilogram from Rs 24 per kilogram on July 31.
According to reports, wholesale onion price in Lasalgaon had reached to this level during December 2010-January 2011. Retail prices had then skyrocketed to about Rs 100 per kilogram across the country, forcing government to curb exports.
However, on account of shortage of supply, onion prices in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have also shot up to Rs 50-55 per kilogram across retail markets.
Meanwhile in NCR, onion is being sold at Rs. 45 per kilogram at Mother Dairy's 350 Safal stores.
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