Onion Prices To Come Down In Two Weeks: Minister

Bhubaneswar: Amid resentment among the people in Odisha over the sudden rise in the price of onion, the state government has said that its price will come down in two weeks.

Briefing mediapersons after presiding over a high-level review meeting at the State Secretariat here on Friday, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surya Narayan Patro, said that the rate of onion in the mandis in Nasik, Maharashtra (the highest producing district in the country), has gone up to Rs 12-Rs 13 per kg due to torrential rain in the last two weeks. However, due to transport charges, the price of the onion per kg in Odisha is around Rs 17 or Rs 18 per kg.

The minister further said that the price of onion would come down as Andhra Pradesh will start supplying it within two weeks.

He said to regulate the market price of the onion, the district collectors have been asked to monitor the sale of onion in the local market.

“To regulate the market price of onion, it has been decided that the wholesalers of Cuttack will have a maximum stock of 500 quintals and the wholesalers of Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Berhampur can stock 350 quintals while in other remaining areas the stock limit is 150 quintals,” he pointed out.

The minister, however, maintained that compared to other states, the price of the onion in Odisha is cheaper.