Onion price soars to Rs 80/kg; Govt to find solution

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New Delhi: With onion prices soaring, Government on Wednesday assured the state governments that it would find out a solution to contain it.
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas said that no export of onion is taking place because of the increased prices of the commodity and its low production in the country.
"In the last two days prices have gone up and production has slightly come down and no export is taking place because prices in India are much more than the price outside," Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas told reporters outside Parliament House.
The Minister said he was in touch with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and authorities in other states to find out an immediate solution to the crisis. "I am in touch with states like Delhi whether they are able to take onion from Nashik. (Agriculture Minister) Sharad Pawar will be coming on Sunday. So I will find out some solution for it," Thomas said when asked about the sky rocketing prices of onion.
Onion prices on Wednesday touched Rs 80 per kg in most retail markets in the national capital despite normal supply in the wholesale markets.. In upmarket colonies, the bulb, a key ingredient in many Indian dishes, cost as high as Rs 70-80 a kg.
At Lasalgaon in Nashik, Asia's largest wholesale market for onion, the price had slightly come down to Rs 45 per kg yesterday from Rs 46 a kg.
India has exported 6.39 lakh tonnes during April-July period of this fiscal compared with 6.94 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. Production stood at 16.6 million tonnes in 2012-13.