Onion auctions to resume after Maharashtra chief minister’s assurance

To contain onion prices, the Centre last week imposed stock holding limits till December 31. Retailers can stock up onion up to 2 tonnes, whereas wholesaler are allowed to keep up to 25 tonnes.

Following an appeal by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, traders in Nashik district have agreed to restart onion auctions from Friday, APMC sources said here late Thursday evening.

Traders wait for customers at APMC Onion Potato Market Vashi, after steep increase in onion prices in Navi Mumbai on October 23, 2020. (Bachchan Kumar/HT File Photo)

Earlier in the day, the chief minister met a delegation of onion farmers and traders in Mumbai.

The state government will follow up with the Centre the farmers’ demand that onion stock holding limits be increased, Thackeray assured them and requested traders to restart auctions.

To contain onion prices, the Centre last week imposed stock holding limits till December 31. Retailers can stock up onion up to 2 tonnes, whereas wholesaler are allowed to keep up to 25 tonnes.

In protest against the Centre’s move, traders called off onion auctions in all 15 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (mandis) in Nashik, including at Lasalgaon APMC, Asia’s biggest onion market.

Maharashtra cultivates as much as 60 per cent of the total onion crop in India.