Onion rates sees further rise, sell at ₹70 per kg in Pune

At the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Gultekdi, a total 10,967 quintal of onion arrived on Monday from various parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka compared to 10,000 quintals two days ago

The price of onion in Pune’s retail market has risen rapidly with onion being sold at ₹60 to ₹70 per kg on Monday, up from ₹40 to ₹50 per kg just three days ago mainly due to short supply and increase in demand.

From April to August this year, the onion rate was lower than its production costs. (HT PHOTO)

At the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Gultekdi, a total 10,967 quintal of onion arrived on Monday from various parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka compared to 10,000 quintals two days ago. Satish Kudale, a trader from Market Yard, said, “We got a good supply of onion at the market on Monday as compared to last week but the rates remained on the higher side. As we bought onion at around ₹5,000 per quintal, it was sold at a higher price in the retail market.” Prakash Shinde, an onion retailer from Katraj, said, “We are getting onion at higher rates so the rates are high in the retail market as well.”

However, Punekars are worried about the hike. “As Diwali is approaching, there are a lot of food preparations like chivda and other spicy items which require a large amount of onion. It will be difficult for us to purchase onion if the prices are high,” said Pratibha Mhatre, a housewife.

Meanwhile, even as the Centre has scrapped the 40% export duty on onion and imposed a minimum export price of $800 per tonne of onion, the decision has not gone down well among farmers at the 17 APMC markets in Nashik district including Lasalgaon which is India’s biggest onion market. According to farmers, nearly 75% of onion growers in the state have not recovered production costs in the current financial year. Vijay Bafna, president, Pimpalgaon Traders’ Association, said, “The Union Ministry of Commerce issued a notification regarding the minimum export value on Saturday, October 28. If the government scraps export duty on onion, it will not have much impact. However, maintaining the minimum export value along with the onion export duty will have a huge impact on exports.”

From April to August this year, the onion rate was lower than its production costs. In August, the inflows eased and rates improved slightly. At that time, the Union Ministry of Finance imposed a 40% export duty on onion exports.

Maharashtra Onion Farmers’ Association president, Bharat Dighole, said, “The onion stock of the Rabi season has been exhausted in the country. In addition, the arrival of the new Kharif red onion is not yet expected compared to the average. In such a situation, there is stress on supply compared to demand. Assembly elections are underway in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana. In such a situation, the price of onion has risen to ₹5,000 per quintal in the wholesale market as the supply has decreased compared to the domestic demand for onion.”