Onion prices go north in Delhi at Rs 60 a kilo

New Delhi: Onion prices have soared to Rs 60 per kg in the retail market of the national capital due to lower supply in the wholesale market.

Local vendors are selling onion, a politically sensitive item, at Rs 55-60 per kg in Delhi, while rates are lower at organised retails.

At Mother Dairy's 350 Safal stores in NCR, onion is being sold at Rs 45 per kg. At more retail outlets, the edible bulb is available at Rs 50 per kg.

Costly commodity. Reuters

Onion supplies have substantially come down in Delhi to 6,000 quintal from 11,480 quintals ten days ago, according to the data maintained by the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF).

"Wholesale price of onion has touched Rs 40-45 per kg.

Arrival of onion from producing states has declined in last 8-10 days," Azadpur Mandi's Onion Merchant Traders Association President Surendra Budhiraj said.

More from Economy

The new crop is expected from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in September-October, he added.

Concerned over the rising prices, Delhi government has already started selling onion vegetable at reasonable rates at 350 outlets across the city to provide relief to citizens.

Meanwhile, rates at Lasalgoan-the Asia's biggest wholesale market for onion-have increased to Rs 31.50 per kg from Rs 24 per kg on 31 July as supplies have fall down.

Onion prices in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have also shot up to Rs 50-55 per kg across retail markets on account of short supply.

Wholesale onion price in Lasalgaon had reached this level during December 2010-January 2011. Retail prices had then skyrocketed to about Rs 100 per kg across the country, forcing government to curb exports.

PTI