Onion prices surge to ₹85 per kg in Chandigarh

The prices are unlikely to fall unless they get regulated from Maharashtra government’s end

CHANDIGARH The onion prices increased further on Tuesday, going up to ₹85 per kg for the white onions from Nashik at the apni mandis of the city. As per mandi officials, the prices can rise further if the situation doesn’t improve.

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Speaking about this, president of the apni mandis, Parlad Singh, said, “Even though supply trucks have started reaching the city, the price has risen too high and will take about a week to settle down. For about a month, the supply remained choppy and it would take some time for the price goes back down back to around ₹35 before the monsoons.”

Officials of the Punjab mandi board said that there was very little supply of white onions at the mandi, and most of the traders were carrying the red variety from Rajasthan which cost ₹75 per kg.

As per Rakesh, a vegetable trader at the Sector 29 apni mandi, traders have been getting red onions from wholesalers as customers didn’t want the more expensive white variety, which is also not readily available.

Officials of the food and supply department of the UT government on condition of anonymity said, “The prices are unlikely to fall unless they get regulated from Maharashtra government’s end. It is likely that the central government will take steps to deal with this situation.”

He added that onion imported from countries such as Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan still haven’t reached cities like Chandigarh yet, and their supply would help bring down the prices in the market. Wholesale rates of onion at the Sector 26 mandi have reached ₹65-₹70 per kg.

Suresh Chand, a resident of Sector 29, who was present at the mandi, said, “We used to purchase two kilos of onions earlier, but now they have become more expensive so we have cut down on our usage.”

Swaran Singh, a resident of Mohali, had come all the way to the Sector 29 mandi to get onions at a cheaper price. “We Punjabis can’t do away with onions in our diet so I keep looking around for where I can get the best deal. Sometimes vegetables at shops are cheaper than those at the mandi,” he said.

Baljinder Singh Bittu, proprietor of Hotel Metro, said, “We are spending more than three times the money we were spending earlier on onions, we have never spent so much money on onions before, and owners of smaller eateries and dhabas have done away with giving complimentary onions, and onions in their salad now.”