Yet again the price of onions hit the roof bringing tears to consumers in city. Consumers thronged special counters at rythu bazaars to buy the ‘bulb’ being sold on subsidy.
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The onion price, which was barely ₹30 a kg in the open market not long ago, has now hit a century.
The yawning gap in the demand and supply is said to be the reason for the steep rise. The solace for consumers, to some extent, is the opening of special counters at rythu bazaars in the city to provide 1 kg of onions to each customer at a subsidised price of ₹40 from Friday. The price at the regular counters at rythu bazaars, which was ₹77 a kg a few days ago, was also reduced to ₹74 a kg.
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“The wholesale market at Gnanapuram in the city is getting only around 100 tonnes of onions a day as against the demand of 250 to 300 tonnes a day,” says A. Kurma Rao, vice president of the Wholesale Vegetable Dealers Association. The loss of onion crop in Maharashtra, which is considered the principal supplier of onions to the country, due to rains is said to be the cause. Smaller size onions are also produced in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. But, the production is very limited and does not meet the requirement.
“We have placed an indent to procure 40 tonnes of onions from Maharashtra through National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED). Buffer stocks are available in Maharashtra, and there is no cause for worry,” Joint Director (Marketing) K. Srinivasa Rao said.
“We have received 20 tonnes of onions. Each consumer is being given one kg of onion at a subsidised price of ₹40. At present we have not received any instructions from the government regarding supply on Aadhaar or ration card but when we receive them, we will implement it,” Assistant Director (Marketing) M. Kaleswara Rao told The Hindu , when contacted.