High onion prices temporary: PM

PM Manmohan Singh says high onion prices would be checked soon and the commodity would soon become affordable.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said high onion prices, especially in north India, would be checked soon and the commodity would soon become affordable for the common person.

HT Image

"It is a temporary phenomenon," the prime minister told reporters when asked about high onion prices at an Iftar or fast-breaking ceremony during Ramadan, which he hosted at his official 7, Race Course Road residence in New Delhi.

With spiralling onion prices bringing tears to consumers, the government on Tuesday banned export of the commodity for 15 days and hiked the minimum export price for pending tenders by $50 a tonne.

The move was initiated after prices of onion soared from under Rs.20 a kg to Rs.30 over the past two weeks in the national capital. State-run agencies also started selling the commodity at Rs.22-23 a kg in and around Delhi.