New Delhi: Even as Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan claimed on Thursday that onion prices have started cooling down in both retail and wholesale markets, Shetkari Sanghatana, an apex farmers’ body in Maharashtra, announced that all onion markets would be indefinitely closed from October 7 if the Centre failed to revoke its decision to ban onion exports and imposition of stock limits on traders.
Retail onion prices, which were ruling at Rs.60-70 per kg for the past few weeks in the national capital and some other parts of the country, declined to below ?60 per kg on Thursday, per trade data,. “We have to take care of the interest of both farmers and consumers. Prices of onion have started declining after we banned export and imposed stock limits of 100 quintals on retailers and 500 quintals on wholesale traders,” Paswan told reporters in Delhi.
Out of the central buffer stock of 56,000 tonnes of onion, 18,000 tonnes have been disposed of and about 15,000 tonnes have dried owing to moisture loss, he said. “We still have 25,000 tonnes of onion in our stock. We are asking State governments to take (from the stock) and supply at ?23.90 per kg in their States and ensure prices are stable,” the food and consumer affairs minister added.
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