Drop in wholesale prices raises hopes

Wholesale prices are down to Rs 25-35 per kg, but onions are still being sold to consumers at Rs 60-70 per kg.

Wholesale prices are down to Rs 25-35 per kg, but onions are still being sold to consumers at Rs 60-70 per kg.

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Traders attributed the fall in wholesale prices to the ban on onion exports and the removal of import duty on them.

On Thursday, agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said he had instructed market yards to sell onions directly to cooperative stores and consumer societies, which would sell onions at affordable rates to the public.

On Friday, the Govardharni Sarvajanik Seva Sanstha, in association with the Mahila Bachat Gat and the state’s Cooperation and Marketing Department, sold onions at Rs 35 in Belapur.

Manda Mhatre, president of the Govardhani Sanstha, said: “Mahila Bachat Gats will sell onions at only Rs 5 profit. We have received onions costing Rs 30 per kg through the government.”

She added: “We will keep the rates constant until retail prices elsewhere come down. The prices retailers are charging are unjustified. They cannot dupe the public this way.”

The Vashi Agricultural Produce Market Committee supplied one ton of onions to the Bachat Gat at subsidised rates; more are expected soon. Within minutes of the Bachat Gat opening its stall, it was thronged by consumers.

Alka Shinde, a homemaker, said: “I heard they were selling onions at Rs 35 per kg. I plan to buy at least 3 kg from the Bachat Gat.”