New Delhi:
The onion, a staple of most Indian dinner tables, is inching towards Rs 100 a kilo in the festival season. It is also election season and a worried government is now considering importing onions from China and Egypt to bring down prices.
Traders say excessive rain has ruined crop in major onion producing states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, leading to a shortage. Food Minister KV Thomas today also asked onion producing states to crack down on hoarders, promising that prices would come down soon.
"Prices have to be stabilised. Prices will come down in a few weeks," Mr Thomas said, adding that he is in discussions with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the onion crisis and that they are considering importing the staple.
Mr Thomas said the problem is most acute in Delhi, where people are paying Rs 90 for a kilo of onions in retail markets. Delhi votes for a new government in 43 days. In 1998, the ruling BJP lost the assembly elections to the Congress, primarily because onion prices had shot up to Rs 60 a kg. The Congress has ruled the national capital ever since.
"Did you congratulate the government when the price of onions fell?" asked Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal today, also claiming that he had seen onions being sold at Rs 55 a kg at a Daryaganj market in Delhi "when the media was reporting that the price was Rs 75-80."
The situation is not much better in other markets. In Chandigarh and Bhopal onions cost Rs 80 a kg. People in Bangalore are paying relatively less at Rs 60 for a kilo. Traders say onion supplies are less than half the country's monthly demand of 9-10 lakh tonne.
A 323% jump in onion prices had pushed September inflation to a seven-month high, raising chances of another bank rate hike later this month. All bad news for consumers just before the Dussehra-Eid-Diwali festival season.