Onion prices may bring tears for two more months

Onion prices that have shot up to Rs 100 per kg may continue to bring tears to consumers for two more months till the arrival of a new crop makes this vegetable,

Onion prices that have shot up to Rs 100 per kg may continue to bring tears to consumers for two more months till the arrival of a new crop makes this vegetable, which is almost a must in most kitchens, affordable once again.

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“This is a demand-supply driven crisis, which is likely to continue till the new crop of onion starts arriving by January-end. While UP produces only half of its requirement, the production has fallen steeply in the major onion growing states also, like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,” a senior government official dealing with the issue said.

“There is little the government can do about the situation,” he added.

The spurt in onion prices has pressured households, restaurants, as well as street food vendors, across the state.

People familiar with the matter said the Central government last week offered states, including UP, imported onions and asked them to send their requirements accordingly. But UP, as well as most other states, were said to have shown little interest in the Centre’s offer as they found it too costly.

The Centre had proposed that states could buy from it the onion being imported from Egypt to deal with the shortage at home. The proposal was made during a video conference led by Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal and later by secretary, food and public distribution, Avinash Srivastava.

“But we did not find the offer viable because the Centre would have made the imported onion available to us for a price as high as Rs 70 per kg and then we would have to bear additional expenses on transporting onion from Delhi to UP,” sources disclosed.

“This kind of onion at consumers’ end may not cost less than Rs 80 per kg. So there is no point in getting onion from the Central pool and consumers may better wait for the new crop,” those familiar with the issue added.

Uttar Pradesh, like many other states, wanted the Centre to give it transportation subsidy but the Centre had not made any commitment on it so far, they said.

“We may buy roughly 15,000 quintal of onion every week from the Centre provided they agree to give some subsidy on transportation after which the state government may also add its own subsidy to make onion available to consumers for around Rs 60 per kg through public distribution shops,” another official said.

A jump in onion prices in September caused a hue and cry in UP and in many other states. The authorities took action immediately to deal with the crisis. The government started making onion available to people at subsidised rates through thousands of its outlets in a number of cities. The chief secretary monitored the situation every day. Two months later, onion is being sold at almost double the price it was being sold at then.

“But the hue and cry or action is missing (now) because in September- October, there were assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana as well by-polls in UP. Onion has always been politically a very sensitive issue in India,” sources said.