To boost domestic supply and contain price rise, the government is importing onion through state-owned MMTC and also facilitating private imports.
The government had created a buffer stock of 56,000 tonnes for the current year but it was not sufficient to contain the prices which are still ruling above Rs 100 per kg in most cities across the country.
Onion prices continue to bring tears to common people as it touched Rs 150/kg in many cities across India. In Kolkata markets, onion was being sold at Rs 120/kg while many markets across Delhi and Mumbai it was priced above Rs 150/kg.
Election flying squad officials on Sunday seized 21 tonnes of onion from a vehicle near Sirkazhi in the district. The seizure was effected during vehicle checks carried out to monitor large scale movement of cash and other articles in the district ahead of the local body polls scheduled to be held on December 27 in the state.
The onion crisis could have been contained to some extent if state governments had effectively raided the hoarders in their respective jurisdictions, Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday.
Onion prices have hit a new high in Delhi and elsewhere on Tuesday amid disrupted arrivals. Wholesale onion prices were quoted at Rs 37.50-112.50 per kg, an all-time high at Azadpur mandi in the national capital.
A CCTV footage showed an unidentified man parking his two-wheeler and then opening the gunny bag covers kept on the pushcart and later putting the onions from a basket into his bag and later driving away.
In a satirical incident, a couple in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi exchanged garlands of onions and garlic during 'Jaymala Ceremony'. The norm of Indian wedding custom caught eyes as instead of flowers the garlands were fashioned out of onions and garlic.
Onion prices had touched Rs 160-170 per kg in local vegetable markets across Mumbai and its suburbs over the last week.
With this, the total quantity of imports that have been contracted so far reached approximately 30,000 tonnes, an official statement said.
The rise in onion prices could have been controlled if the export ban on the vegetable had been implemented earlier. The state elections in Maharashtra and the stance of opposition parties in criticising the ban only made the situation worse.
Every family with ration card was given 1 kg onion at Rs 59. In the local markets, the vegetable is being sold for Rs 130-140 a kg, which is a seven-time increase in four months.
The Centre on Monday further reduced the stock holding limit for onion to 2 tonnes from 5 tonnes for retail traders as part of efforts to check hoarding and boost domestic supply of the kitchen staple.
Rising prices of onions are hurting us all. A man was arrested by police on Monday for trying to steal 2 Kg onions from a grocery shop. Let's hope onion prices come down in near future.
With the price of onions touching Rs 150 per kilogram in Kolkata, the West Bengal government on Sunday announced it will sell the vegetable at a subsidized rate from fair price shops in the city.
Price of onion shot up to a whopping Rs 200 per kg in Bengaluru due to severe short supply in the market, an official said here on Saturday.
Onion prices in one of the wholesale markets in the city eased to Rs 4,500 per bag of 40 kgs on Friday after state government expedited its vigilance, as per market sources. The wholesale price of onions had touched Rs 5,000 per bag few days back, they said.
Speaking at a press conference later, Chidambaram said that his comments on the finance minister was not "sarcastic".
The minister referred to Chowdhury's earlier remarks against the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in which he had called them "infiltrators" on the issue of National Register of Citizen (NRC).
The wholesale price of onions of the summer variety rose to Rs 11,000 per quintal on Monday during an auction at the Kalwan Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) here in Maharashtra.
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