"Potato and onion whole-sellers have been asked to sell with marginal profit and instructed to have price display boards," sub collector of Berhampur, Ajit Mishra said.
"If anyone deviates from the instruction and tries to hoard the commodities, the administration will take stringent action," Mishra said.
The administration held a meeting with the potato and onion whole-seller traders of the town to take stock of the market price situation of the two commodities.
The Market Intelligence Officer (MIO) would make surprise visits to the whole-sale market to check hoarding, he said.
Potato is being sold at Rs 17 per kg and onion between Rs 12 to Rs 14 per kg in the retail market here.
Potato traders in Berhampur, the biggest commercial town in South Odisha, said the price here depended on the market price in West Bengal.
While potato was supplied from West Bengal, onion was transported from Maharastra and Karnatak. Increase in transport cost was the main reason for soaring price of onion and potato here, they said.