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Average retail prices of onions saw very little or nil movement in most parts of the country on Friday. The highest, lowest and modal prices stayed unchanged at ₹160, ₹35 and ₹100, respectively.
Retail prices rose by ₹10 a kilo in various cities in the north such as Karnal, Panchkula, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Kanpur. Dharamshala saw the price of the bulb climb ₹30 to ₹100 a kilo on Friday from Thursday’s price of ₹70 a kilo. A few cities such as Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur in Kerala saw a dip of ₹5-15 a kilo from Thursday’s prices.
News reports suggest that prices are unlikely to come down to relatively normal levels before mid-January, as supplies are expected to get augmented only around then.
A fresh round of orders for 12,500 tonnes of onions, placed with Turkey , is to arrive in India from mid-January. The state-run MMTC had placed fresh orders on the direction of the Price Stabilisation Fund Management Committee of the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Around the time that these imports land in India, fresh domestic production is also set to arrive in the wholesale markets. That could crash the prices the onions by as much as 80 per cent according to reports. Wholesale prices at Lasalgaon, India’s biggest wholesale market for onions, may plunge to about ₹20-25 per kilogram mid-January.
Zone-wise data
Onion prices vary from north to south and from east to west. It also sees variations within the same state. Here we look at variations within zones.
In the north, onions were the most expensive in Shimla, priced at ₹ 120 a kilo, whereas the commodity was the most affordable in Jhansi, at ₹35 a kilo.
In the west, while Panaji sold the commodity at ₹130, the maximum price of the bulb in the country as recorded by government authorities, cities like Gwalior sold it at ₹46 a kilo.
In the east, prices were the highest in Kolkata, at ₹120 a kilo, whereas in Rampurhat, it was relatively reasonable at ₹80.
In the north east, while cities like Itanagar sold the bulb at ₹150 a kilo, it was only ₹100 in Imphal.
In the South, onions were most expensive in Kozhikode and Mayabunder at ₹160 a kilo, and cheapest in Warangal where it cost only ₹68.
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