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Wholesale Mandis
The government has intensified its efforts to check onion prices by stepping up the sale of buffer stock in wholesale markets, following a spike in retail prices after the recent removal of export duty. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare on Monday said the Centre has begun offloading onions from its buffer stock in wholesale markets of Delhi and other key cities, with plans to expand subsidised retail sales nationwide. "We anticipated a price surge after lifting the export duty. With our 4.7 lakh tonne buffer stock and increased kharif sowing area, we expect to keep onion prices in check," Khare told reporters here. The government plans to increase retail sales of onions at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg across India, focusing on cities where prices exceed the national average. Official data shows retail onion price in Delhi at Rs 55 per kg on September 22, up from Rs 38 per kg a year ago. Prices in Mumbai and Chennai have reached Rs 58 and Rs 60 per kg, respectively. Sinc
Onion prices rose at the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in the district on Saturday following the Union government's decision to scrap the minimum export price (MEP) and halve the export duty, sources said. The Lasalgaon APMC is one of the biggest onion wholesale markets in the country. The prices of the kitchen staple in the APMC rose by average Rs 433 per quintal, sources said. "The removal of MEP is certainly a good decision. The market has increased a bit. We think there should be no export ban. The imposition and removal of such things affects the market. Now MEP has been removed, but farmers' onion produce is running out," said Balasaheb Kshirsagar, Lasalgaon APMC chairman. "There is no clarification yet about whether export charges have been reduced by 20 per cent or 40 per cent," he told PTI. As many as 425 vehicles or 5,182 quintals of onion arrived at the market on Saturday. The prices ranged from Rs 3,700 to Rs 4,951 per quintal and Rs 4,700 per
Supply of vegetables in Delhi's wholesale markets has been affected, which may cause a spike in prices of kitchen staples, due to the truckers' strike against the new penal law on hit-and-run road accidents, traders said Tuesday. There has been a 10-15 per cent rise in prices of vegetables in the national capital due to the slowdown, with rates of vegetables such as tomato, onion, and capsicum going up by Rs 5-7 per kg in many wholesale markets, they said. "So far, the supply of vegetables in Delhi is not halted due to the truck drivers protest. However, there has been a slowdown in the supply as truckers' in many parts of the country are being stopped at check points, causing delay in reaching the wholesale markets," said Sanjay Bhagat, wholesale vendor in Azadpur Mandi -- Asia's biggest farm produce market. The full blown impact of truckers' strike on the wholesale markets of the city will be yielded by Tuesday night, vendors said. If the situation continues, traders fear that th
The government will integrate 28 new wholesale mandis (market yards) with the online trading platform eNAM, taking the total count to 1,389 in the country, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said on Tuesday. At present, 1,361 regulated mandis in 23 states and four Union Territories are linked with the electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM), launched on April 26. "To further strengthen e-NAM, 28 new mandis were approved recently for integration to take the total count of mandis to 1389," Ahuja said at a workshop here on eNAM 2.0. He also emphasised on the importance of providing key information to the stakeholders of e-NAM at the right time. "It is important to remove information asymmetry," he said. Ahuja further said the information pertaining to quality of produce is as vital to the buyer, as the prices of commodities are vital to sellers. "From an economic perspective, the whole value chain must be made efficient and wastage must be reduced," he said. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai,