Tomato rates up, onions still ‘hot’
A day after the city government decided to conduct raids to check hoarding, Delhi food and civil supplies minister Haroon Yusuf on Wednesday claimed that the wholesale price of onions has come down to `37. 50 per kg. He also stated that the government would in a day or two sell onions at `39 to `41 from 480 outlets of Mother Dairy, Kendriya Bhandar and NAFED.
However, the onion prices are still reported to be around `50-55 in city retail markets. And even as onions are bringing tears to the eyes of consumers, tomatoes too have started becoming dearer.
Mr Yusuf told reporters that the government has already placed orders for procurement of onions for sale at its outlets. He said that the city government conducted raids in Azadpur Mandi.
“Raids have resulted in a substantial increase in the availability of onions. Also, onion growers were persuaded to sell the produce in open auction. This brought the price down to `37.5 per kg,” Mr Yusuf said. However, the minister’s claim was not reflected as onion prices were reported above `50 per kg in retail markets.
The availability of onions in Azadpur Mandi increased from 1,144 tonnes on Tuesday to about 2,000 tonnes on Wednesday, Mr Yusuf claimed and added that the government has activated a toll free number to monitor onion prices in retail and wholesale markets.
Meanwhile, the retail price of tomatoes jumped to `40 a kg. Delhi BJP chief Vijendra Gupta alleged that truck loads of tomatoes were being smuggled into Pakistan.
Tomatoes were selling around `15-20 per kg about a week ago in the city. Traders claimed that the supply of tomatoes has dropped to mere 8-10 trucks against 40 trucks about 10 days back.
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