After tomato, onion prices up 60% in a week

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, August 18

After tomatoes, the price onion is on a steep rise, going up by nearly 60 per cent in a week. From Rs 25-30 per kg last week, onions now are being sold at Rs 40-45 per kg in major cities. In the big retail outlets, the price has already reached Rs 50 per kg. In Delhi, vegetable vendors are selling onions at Rs 45 per kg.

As per the price monitoring division of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the wholesale price of onions in North India has increased by 1,000 per quintal this month.

From Rs 1,651 per quintal on August 2 to Rs 2,400 on August 14, the wholesale price of onions in Nashik — the country’s largest wholesale market — jumped by 45 per cent.

Experts believe that the current rise in onion prices is due to supply constraints. Unseasonal rain in April across the key producing states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan affected the shelf life of stored rabi harvests.