Onion prices have skyrocketed to over Rs 75 per kg in recent weeks.
New Delhi:
To boost domestic supply and relieve consumers of rising onion prices, the Center on Friday imposed stock limits on retailers and wholesalers with immediate effect until December 31.
Now retailers can only store 2 tonnes of onion, while wholesalers are allowed to keep up to 25 tonnes. This will verify hoarding and blackmarketing, he said.
Onion prices have skyrocketed to over Rs 75 per kg in recent weeks following damage to the standing kharif crop in production areas due to heavy rainfall and hoarding.
Speaking to the media, Consumer Secretary Leena Nandan said: “This is a decisive step. We have imposed stock limits on onion traders with immediate effect until December 31 after concerns that traders were slowly releasing their stored inventory, creating a situation of artificially rising prices. “
She said the government should invoke the recently passed Essential Products (Amendment) Law of 2020, which regulates agricultural products “only” in times of extraordinary price increases.
“Under this law, normally we would not regulate agri-food products like grains and onions. But, in times of extraordinary price increases, we can regulate if the retail price exceeds the trigger levels specified in the law, ”she said.
In the case of onion, the average retail price of onion across India of Rs 55.60 per kg prevailing on October 21 has exceeded the trigger point according to the formula specified in the amending law from the EC, she said.
The average retail price for the whole of India of 55.60 rupees per kg was 22.12 percent higher than last year’s rates of 45.33 rupees per kg and 114.96 percent of the average rate prevailing over the past five years. So, the retail price had in fact more than doubled and, as a result, decided to impose stock limits on the product, she added.
Later, Consumer Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted that the Modi government had taken the third step to curb hoarding and check prices. Stock limits have been imposed on onion retailers and wholesalers.
The government said measures under the Black Market Prevention and Maintenance of Essentials Supply Act 1980 would be taken to prevent any hoarding, black marketing of onions by unscrupulous elements.
Highlighting other measures taken to slow down the onion price spiral trend, the secretary said the government had decided to increase domestic supplies through imports for which the state-owned MMTC would soon be appealing. tenders for red onions to meet the supply gap.
Recently, the government relaxed fumigation and phytosanitary standards for importing onion and activated Indian consulates to facilitate trade, she said.
The secretary said the government took preventative action by announcing an onion export ban on Sept. 14 itself to ensure availability to domestic consumers at reasonable rates, ahead of the expected arrival of the kharif onion from next month.
“So the rise in retail prices has been moderate to some extent, but recent reports of heavy rains in the onion growing districts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have sparked concerns about damage to kharif crops, ”she said.
She also said that developments on the weather front had contributed to the sharp rise in onion prices.
However, to cope with the current situation, the government has stepped up onion unloading from its 1 lakh ton buffer stock created in 2019-20, which is carried out rapidly but in a calibrated manner from the second half of September, she said.
The secretary further said that onion from the government’s buffer stock was sold in major mandis as well as retailers such as Safal, Kendriya Bhandar, NCCF and NAFED in major cities and via states.
Currently, the governments of Assam and Kerala are supplied through the retail elimination mechanism. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Lakshadweep have also placed their request for onions, which are being shipped, she said.
In addition, onions are also being phased out through open market sales, which will be further intensified to bring down the price increase.
The government has said the kharif harvest is expected to hit the mandis from next month. The estimated arrival of 37 lakh tonne of kharif onion will improve availability, she added.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
