Government today said there was no scarcity of onions in the country and its availability was the same as last year.
"There is no scarcity of onions in the country and the domestic availability is the same as it was last year," Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.
He said about 76 lakh metric tonnes of onions were produced last year and an equal quantity was expected to be harvested this year.
About 25 lakh metric tonnes of onions are in storage for the domestic market this year.
Sharma said that to check price rise in the domestic market, government has been increasing Maximum Export Price from time to time to discourage import of the commodity.
He said the MEP $185 in June and has been increased to $450 in December.
Sharma said about 9.14 lakh metric tonnes of onions valued at Rs 1,188.20 crore has been exported through state trading corporations between June and November this year.
