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DoCA reviews onion price, availability; Utilises price stabilisation fund
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Saturday, 20 October, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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Fearing a sharp spike in the onion prices, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, reviewed the price and availability of onions in India and decided to utilise the price stabilisation fund (PSF) for keeping a check on the prices.
A meeting was held in this regard, wherein the horticulture commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, assured that the arrival of the new crop will increase substantially within a week and the supply from the buffer stock of onions under the PSF would be doubled or trebled to improve availability and moderate prices.
Further, Mother Dairy outlets would be doing a roll back of prices of onions by Rs 2 at all its stores in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
At the high-level meeting held by DoCA, which was chaired by its secretary, Avinash K Srivastava, the horticulture commissioner stated that the arrivals of the kharif crop were expected to increase significantly within a week. This would improve the availability in consuming areas, thereby helping to moderate prices.
Further, the sown area under the Kharif onion crop was higher this year than it was last year, and its arrival has commenced from Karnataka.
A formal statement from the government said, “In the meeting, it was decided that the supply of onions to Delhi from the buffer stock under the PSF should be doubled or trebled from the current level so as to tide over any constraint in the interim supply of onions in the market.”
“The implementing agency for the purpose, i e the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) has been directed to increase the quantity supplied from PSF stock accordingly. The situation of onion prices and its availability will be constantly reviewed by the committee and appropriate and immediate interventions will be made as required,” it added.
Meanwhile, DoCA advised Mother Dairy to roll back the prices of onions by Rs 2 across all variants in Delhi and NCR. Mother Dairy agreed to reduce these rates from Rs 25.90 to Rs 23.90 for the loose variant and from Rs 27.90 to Rs 25.90 for the packed variant at all its stores.
The wholesale prices of onions have shot up close to Rs 30 in some parts, ranging from Rs 23 a kg, which is around Rs 7-10 higher, while the retail price have gone up to Rs 40 a kg.
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