Onion prices fall as supply goes up

CHENNAI: Onion prices on Wednesday dropped from Rs 80 to Rs 60 per kg with more stocks arriving at the Koyambedu wholesale market.
"As compared to the last few days when we received only 30 truckloads of onions instead of the usually 70, today we received 62 truckloads. The price of one sack (50 kg) of onions was selling at Rs 3,000 yesterday. Today it is selling at Rs 2,000," V R Soundarajan, market advisor to Onion and Potato Wholesale Traders' Association, told TOI.
Soundarajan attributed the increased supply to the ban on exports and the government's move to import onions from Pakistan."Also, since the rains have stopped, transportation has become easier and with the soil drying up, farmers are trying to salvage as much of their crop as possible," he added.
While Koyambedu was selling onions at Rs 60 and cooperative stores at Rs 55 on Wednesday, the dip in prices has been ignored by big retailers, who are still selling at prices between Rs 80-90 per kg. "I saw a Spencer store selling onions at Rs 90.50 today," said George Mathew, a media professional. "So I opted to buy them from a local grocery store where they were selling for Rs 80."
Meanwhile, minister for food A V Velu issued a statement saying Tamil Nadu planned to procure onions from northern states to control prices within the state. "The price of onions is fixed based on arrivals from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka," Velu said. "The increase in price is due to short supplies and also a reduction in the supply at the all-India level." He further said that a committee comprising civil supplies officers will be dispatched to northern states to procure the onions, which will then be distributed through the civil supplies department-run Amudham stores in Chennai and other districts on a non-profit basis.
The government's largesse does not however extend to distribution of onions though the PDS outlets, said a civil supplies official. "We are already selling through Amudham and cooperative stores at the price that it was procured," he said, "It will be difficult to reduce it drastically to suit the subsidised rates of PDS."
Amudham stores across the city and the TUCS Kamadhenu stores have been doing a brisk business with the sale of onions and potatoes. As per the price fixed by the government, onions are being sold at Rs 55 per kg at these stores while potatoes are being sold at Rs 20 per kg.
A Kamadhenu store in Royappettah sold 500 out of 735 kilos of onions on a single day and also sold a few other vegetables at lower prices. "We are selling beetroot at Rs 20, tomatoes at Rs 32 and beans and carrots at Rs 30," said P Gnanaselvam, the store in-charge. An Amudha store in Gopalapuram sold 300 out of the 600 kg of onions it had received on Wednesday morning. Said O Khaja, who manages the store, "Onion has been selling like hotcakes. We even had several people who arrived in cars to buy onions."
For K Chaamundeshwari, a civil supplies department employee, the Amudham store in Mylapore is her preferred destination. "Yesterday, I had no choice but to buy onions for Rs 70 a kg from the market. But today I am buying from here as it is selling for Rs 55," she said, as she purchased 3 kg of onions.