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Onion prices have gone up by 25-50 per cent in the national capital region and the essential commodity is now retailing in the range of Rs 50-70 per kg, depending on the quality. The prices have soared at Mother Dairy retail outlets. The price hikes come at the end of Navratri.
"The price was Rs 40 per kg until three days back, but now I am selling at Rs 50/kg, whereas it is higher even at Mother Dairy's Safal outlet, as well as other markets," Kapil Tyagi, who operates a daily needs shop in Noida told Hindu businessline (HBL). Vegetable retailers said that prices have increased in the local mandis. The onion prices were retailing at Rs 40 per kg until Monday and have risen to Rs 50 per kg on Tuesday and sustained at those levels until Wednesday.
While low-quality onions were selling for Rs 50 per kg, the medium and good-quality onions were selling at Rs 60 and Rs 70, respectively. Mother Dairy increased the onion prices to Rs 56 per kg in Noida on Wednesday from Rs 49 per kg on Tuesday, the HBL report said. In Delhi, on the other hand, Mother Dairy was selling onions at Rs 60 per kg.
RK Gupta is familiar with the onion business and told HBL "Overall, the price was around Rs 40/kg before the Navratri festival, and Rs 60/kg now in the National Capital Region. Subdued demand during Navratri has prevented price escalation, even as rates were moving higher in Maharashtra's producing region over two months back when the government imposed an export duty to increase domestic availability."
The onion crop planted in the Kharif season, which is normally harvested in October-November, started coming to the market in mid-September this year. However, because of the 36 per cent drop in the total sown area in Maharashtra, the HBL report stated that prices of onion increased.
