Little relief for city consumers

Although wholesale onion prices fell at the Agriculture Produce and Market Committee (APMC) on Wednesday, it made little difference to consumers as retail rates showed no change. Vendors said it would be a few more days before prices fell.

Although wholesale onion prices fell at the Agriculture Produce and Market Committee (APMC) on Wednesday, it made little difference to consumers as retail rates showed no change. Vendors said it would be a few more days before prices fell.

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Onions were selling at Rs 75-80 per kg in retail markets across the city. Vendors said they bought onions for Rs 65-70 per kg from the Dadar market. “Onions are available in the wholesale market even for Rs 50-55 but those are of low quality and have a shelf life of only 24 hours,” said Rashmin Shah, a wholesaler at Dadar. “We expect prices to fall only after a fortnight when the fresh stock and imported onions reach us.”

Many homemakers, hearing that wholesale prices had fallen, rushed to their local markets. Vendors said they were tired of turning away hopeful buyers.

“I saw on TV that prices had fallen and rushed to buy onions. But prices hadn’t changed,” said Supriya Bhandary, a homemaker.

Vendors’ business too has been affected by the price rise. Demand has fallen drastically. “My daily sale was 2 to 3 tons. But in the last two days I only sold 1.5 tons in all,” said Shah.

Many vendors simply did not buy fresh stocks. “Most of our stock from yesterday is unsold,” said Babubhai, a wholesaler at Mahim.