Wholesale and retail onion prices in Delhi have hit the roof in the past 10 days. Low supply of onion from other states has pushed the rates in Delhi higher. Wholesale onion prices have surged up to Rs 23 per kilogram, reported news agency Press Trust of India. Retail prices of onions have followed suit. Depending on the quality and locality, onions can be bought at a price ranging from Rs 30 per kilogram to Rs 40 per kilogram. "There has been Rs 7-10 per kilo increase in wholesale rates of onion in the last ten days," Onion and Potato Merchants Association (Azadpur 'mandi') General Secretary Rajendra Sharma was quoted as saying in the PTI report.
Farmers have not started harvesting because of the ongoing festive season break, he said. Thus, the arrival of kharif crop of onions is not yet in full swing. The price gap between old and new crop of onions has also reduced.
Meanwhile, at Lasalgaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra, Asia's largest wholesale market for onions, prices skyrocketed to Rs 21-22 per kg on reports of a possible drop in the kharif output of the bulb crop because of heat wave in the state, according to Press Trust of India. The prices were ruling at Rs 15 per kg in the year-ago period at the Lasalgaon market, according to official data.
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab and Rajasthan are the major onion-producing states.
Meanwhile, food inflation quickened to 0.51 per cent in September, as against 0.29 per cent in the previous month, official provisional data showed earlier this month. Consumer inflation stood at 3.77 per cent, as against 3.69 per cent in August. Food prices make up nearly half of the Consumer Price Index.
(With PTI inputs)
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