Wholesale prices at Vashi Agricultural Produce Market Committee(APMC) are down by Rs 1200 rupees a quintal.
There may be some relief from rising onion prices in near future. Retail prices of onions are likely to come down a bit after a crash in the wholesale rates.
Wholesale prices at Vashi Agricultural Produce Market Committee(APMC) are down by Rs 1200 rupees a quintal since Tuesday. The reason: a glut of fresh stock that's flooded the market from China, Pakistan and Egypt. A spike in fresh supply from Karnataka has also contributed to the fall in the wholesale rates.
Wholesale prices of onions at Nasik's Lasalgaon, Asia's largest wholesale onion market, are hovering around Rs 4300 per quintal. This is Rs 1200 less than the wholesale price on Tuesday.
Mahendra Totlani, a trader at Vashi market, says that while this cooling down of wholesale rates will percolate to retail rates in a day or two, prices of native onions which enjoy a higher demand are unlikely to come down. "Even today prices of onions from Nasik, Pune are commanding Rs 55 per kilo on an average at the wholesale market. That means local onions at retail markets will still sell for 65 odd rupees," he said.
Echoing his view is Rita, a small time onion vendor at Mumbai's eastern suburb of Chembur. She has just picked up new onions from the APMC market for Rs 38 a kilo. She plans to retail it for Rs 55 a kilo. She justifies the Rs 17 difference by saying her selling price has to factor in the high transport cost and spoilage.
"The onions I have bought come from Hubli. These new onions won't last very long and there will be rotten ones in the sack I have purchased".
Though onions from China and Egypt have contributed in bringing down prices, there are few takers for them at the wholesale market.
Mr Savar, a commissioning agent for onions and potatoes, explains that Indian palate finds these onions very bland and households don't buy them. "They are generally picked up by hotels and restaurants which require onions in bulk".
Size-wise though onions from China and Egypt are bigger, their wholesale rate is nearly Rs 20 lower than native onions which are smaller in size and much denser.
Retail rates of onions in Mumbai are anywhere between Rs 55 to Rs 75 depending on the area.
Soaring prices have forced Akshata Jaiswal, a young housewife, to the wholesale market. She has just picked up 25 kilos of onions at Rs 53 a kilo. Pleased with her purchase she says, "We consume a lot of onions at home. I am happy to have bought onions for much less than the prevailing retail prices. Hopefully for the next one month I won't have to fret over sky rocketing onion prices".
Rest of us though will have to pay through our noses for onions until fresh crop from Nasik comes into the market around mid-October.