Govt says its intervention brought down onion price

The government’s decision to impose the minimum export price of $800 per ton on onion with effect from October 29 till December 31 has shown an immediate impact of price correction in Maharashtra markets, where prices recorded a decline of 5 per cent to 9 per cent from the highest price registered during the last week, an official press release said today. The decision was taken to discourage exports and maintain availability in domestic markets.

The weighted average price of onion in Maharashtra across all the markets has declined by 4.5 per cent and similar decline was observed in consumption centers as well.

The Department of Consumer Affairs is monitoring onion exports and prices on a daily basis to ensure stable domestic prices and availability to consumers, the release said. In view of increasing demand in November, the department has started releasing onion buffer stocks into the market both through the mandi sale and discounted sale to retail consumers at centers of high prices. This includes retail sale through 685 mobile retail outlets covering over 170 cities.

NAFED and NCCF have also started procuring additional 2 lakh ton onion of kharif harvest to be distributed in high price centers to keep the onion prices under control and consumers’ interest protected, the release added.