Additional onion imports from Turkey to ease prices

As onions prices continue to rule above the ₹100/kg mark across many cities, the Centre has contracted additional imports from Turkey.

State-run MMTC has contracted an additional 12,500 tonnes of onion from Turkey as directed by the Price Stabilisation Fund Management Committee of the Department of Consumer Affairs, an official release said. The onions will begin arriving in India from mid-January onwards.

With this, the total contracted onion for imports so far has gone up to 42,500 tonnes.

About 12,000 tonnes of onion will arrive before December 31, which will be supplied to various States in line with their respective demand, the release said.

Onion prices have more than doubled in the past one month due to the crop loss in the kharif and late-kharif season as excess rain and flooding impacted production in the key producing regions of Mahrashtra and Karnataka.