Onion stocks: 500 quintal cap for dealers, 100 quintal for retailers in Chandigarh

In a bid to deter dealers from hoarding onions and to keep a check on prices in the city, the UT administration imposed stock limits on storing of onions with immediate effect. Issuing directions to all dealers (including wholesalers, distributing agents and selling agents) the UT administration has put a limit of 500 quintal on onion stock.

In a bid to deter dealers from hoarding onions and to keep a check on prices in the city, the UT administration imposed stock limits on storing of onions with immediate effect.

Issuing directions to all dealers (including wholesalers, distributing agents and selling agents) the UT administration has put a limit of 500 quintal on onion stock. For the retailer, the stock limit has been fixed at 100 quintal.

Stating that directions has been issued to stop hoarding of onions, Manoj Kumar Parida, UT adviser, said, “High onion prices high may impel some traders to hoard onions and create an artificial shortage in the market, to later sell onions at exorbitant prices. To prevent this, the administration has issued ordered a limit on the quantity of onions they can store at their place.”

On September 29, the union ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution (department of consumers affairs) issued a similar order— Removal of licensing requirements, stock limits and movement restrictions on specified foodstuffs order 2019—to limit the stocking of onion by wholesalers and retailers.

Even though, after peaking at ₹55 per kg on September 22, onions prices stabilised at ₹50 per kg by October 4, yet current prices are double than the in August when onions were selling at ₹25 per kg.

Both, tomatoes and green chillies were priced at ₹30 per kg till mid-August. Now, the prices of tomatoes at ₹60 per kg and green chillis at ₹80 per kg are also high.

As per directions of UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, the administration had set up stalls at five community centres and two mobile vans at the periphery of the city to sell onions at a no-profit-no-loss price of ₹32 per kg. The stalls remained open on September 26, 27 and 28, selling 33.5 quintal of onions during this period, but were, closed thereafter.

When he was asked whether the administration would continue the stalls, Parida said, “The stalls will continue to offer cheaper onions. There was some miscommunication due to the price issue which have been sorted out now.”