New Delhi:
Retail prices of onion are likely to soften soon, as wholesale rates came down yesterday by Rs 10 per kilogram with the edible bulb imported from Afghanistan arriving in markets.
Prices of the kitchen staple declined a day after the government hiked the minimum export price (MEP) of onions to USD 900 per tonne.
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas said Maharshatra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has offered onions to the Delhi government on a priority basis to bring down the prices in the national capital.
"With the additional arrival of onions from Afghanistan, prices fell by Rs 10 per kg to Rs 50 per kg in the whole sale market," Onion Merchant Traders Association President Surendra Budhiraj said yesterday.
Traders also attributed the fall in wholesale onion prices to decline in prices in Lasalgaon Mandi in Nashik, which sets the price trend across the country.
Around 25 trucks carrying 1,500- 2,000 quintals of onions have arrived at the Azadpur Mandi from Afghanistan, traders said.
Punjab-based traders have started importing onions from Afghanistan through Attari-Wagah land route in Amritsar. While 400 tonnes of onion came from Afghanistan on Thursday, traders said about 2,000 more tonnes of the vegetable will come in from that country in the next 7-10 days.
Mother Dairy outlets in the city, which are selling onions at around Rs 60 per kg, is contemplating to reduce the prices from today after the fall in the prices at wholesale market, an official said.
When asked about high onion price, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said: "There is a seasonal movement in onion prices. However, expectations are that prices will settle down in a week or so on improved supplies."
On Thursday, the government had hiked the minimum export price (MEP) of onion to USD 900 per tonnes from USD 650 per tonne to cutb outward shipment.
According to National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) data, prices of the politically sensitive commodity at Lasalgaon in Nashik decreased by Rs 10 per kilogram to Rs 47 per kilogram yesterday.