Soaring onion price likely to pinch pockets in Kolkata till November

KOLKATA: Onion prices, which have soared to Rs 60-Rs 70 a kg in the past few days, are likely to remain so till early November, when fresh stock from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is expected to arrive. Because of the untimely rain and flood-like situation in Maharastra, which have wreaked havoc on onion production in Nashik, the vegetable has been burning holes in Kolkatans’ pockets. The sorted onion, packed in plastic bags, is selling at Rs75-Rs 80 per kg now.Sources at the agriculture marketing department have assured they will bring in subsidized onion — at Rs 42 per kg — to markets. However, that is too little to meet the demand. Bengal requires 8.5 lakh tonnes of onion a year. Though it produces 5.5 lakh tonnes, it is the deficit of 3 lakh tonnes that has determined the prices. “Around this time, Bengal is dependent on Nashik for onion. But because of the untimely rain, the Nashik onion is trickling through city markets and this scarcity is making onion pricey,” said Kamal Dey, president of West Bengal Vegetable Vendors’ Association. With the price rising almost 30% in two days to touch the highest since September 2015, traders fear the government will move to ban export. Measures like levying of the minimum export price and permission for duty-free import have failed to curb the price rise, said Dey.The onion price in Nashik rose to Rs 42-Rs 45 a kg, which took the price in Kolkata to Rs 70 a kg in the third week of September. However, when the Nashik price dipped to Rs 35-Rs 38 a week later, there was no change here. “The Bengal government has gone into agreement with NAFED on the supply of 200bn tonnes of onion, but NAFED could not keep their word. This is why the gap between the domestic supply and demand is yawning,” said an official.