With onion prices soaring to a record high, Odisha Tuesday started selling onions at wholesale prices from its fair price shops to check hoarders and black-marketers, an official said.
The government-approved fair price shops that distribute essential commodities such as wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene at subsidised prices under public distribution system have started selling onions at the prevailing prices of Rs.50 per kg at several places.
"This step has been taken to ease the burden on people," Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department secretary Madhusudan Padhi told IANS.
"We have to ensure that people get onions at actual prices and not get exploited by hoarders or black-marketers," he said.
Padhi said facilities have been introduced in most cities in the state including in state capital Bhubaneswar and its adjoining Cuttack. However, each family can only buy one kg of onions from fair price shops in their respective areas.
Odisha produces only 10 percent of the three lakh tonnes of onions it consumes annually. Most of its onions come from Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Onion prices have skyrocketed across India, steadily climbing from Rs.15 to Rs.25 per kg last month to Rs.70 Tuesday in some places, including in Odisha.
