Patna/New Delhi: Onion prices are starting to read like Sachin Tendulkar’s fast-ticking scorecard but there is no joy for the nation in this unwanted century.
Prices of the essential commodity touched the politically-sensitive Rs. 100-a-kg mark in several places across the country on Tuesday, forcing a worried Centre to ask all state governments to come down heavily on hoarders.
The government also hinted at banning exports to contain the spiraling prices of onion, which is being sold at around Rs. 80-90/kg in most parts of the country including the national capital.
With five states going to the polls in December and general elections slated for early next year, the issue of price rise has become more political than economic for the Congress-led UPA government. And the sky-high prices of onion have given the opposition a potent weapon to attack the government with.
“We have enough onion stock in the country. The state governments must act firmly against hoarders who are hoarding onions leading to the artificial scarcity and sharp escalation of prices,” commerce minister Anand Sharma told reporters in Delhi.
In places like Srinagar, Bhopal and Patna, prices rose to as high as Rs. 100 per kg while in most other places it was being sold for anything between Rs. 70-80 per kg.
The only exception appeared to be Chandigarh and other places of Punjab where prices have come down to Rs. 30-Rs 50 per kg.
According to traders in the commodity market, the prices are likely to come down further in the next two days. “New produce is arriving at the market at a rapid pace,” said Deepak Dhawan, an onion wholeseller. For the past couple of months, traders in Punjab are importing onions from Afghanistan through the Attari-Wagah land route in Amritsar. The last major onion consignment was received on October 14.
According to the government, the domestic availability of onion has been affected to an extent on account of damage to kharif crop following unseasonal rains in key producing states including Maharashtra.
Sharma, however, said that prices of the essential commodity are expected to stabilise with arrival of fresh produce in the coming days and late kharif crop in December, he said.
Nashik-based NHRDF director RP Gupta too said that “the kharif crop has been affected due to untimely rains in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.” The NHRDF — National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation — is a government-run research body. (Agencies)