Wholesale price of onion rises from Rs 800-26,00 a quintal

Traders' body says the situation is not going to improve till September-end

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, August 4: The price of onion has gone up further on the pretext of rise in prices at its sources.

In the recent past, the wholesale price of the commodity rose to Rs 1,750 a quintal from Rs 800 a quintal, and then to Rs 2,600 a quintal. The commodity is now sold at a retail price of Rs 30 a kg. And the bad news is that the price of the commodity is not likely to fall till September-end this year.

In a statement issued to the media today, the Kamrup (M) district administration has claimed to keep a close watch on the price of the commodity. The district administration had a meeting with the office-bearers of the Potato and Onion Traders’ Association on the issue of onion price. The meeting was presided over by Additiol Deputy Commissioner badwip Pathak.

The traders’ body let the district administration know at the meeting that the rise in prices of onion is due to rise in prices at its sources – Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan — due to inclement weather. They made it known to the district administration that the current rise in onion prices is not a phenomenon in Assam alone. It’s an all-India phenomenon. The traders’ body further said: “The situation is not going to improve till September-end when new onion yield is likely.”

The traders’ body, however, made the district administration known that there is no likelihood of scarcity of the commodity in the city and the State. “Right now Guwahati alone has a stock of 1,824 quintals. A fresh supply of 1,600 quintal has arrived in the city. This apart, a rake of onion is going to arrive in the city within a week,” the traders’ body informed the district administration.

Onion is too important to be without. The daily demand of onion in Guwahati is 60 metric tonnes against 228 metric tonnes in the entire Northeast.

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