Onion prices in Bengal, Northeast rise due to low supply from Nashik & wily traders

KOLKATA/PUNE: Onion prices in West Bengal and the Northeastern states are rising. Though the wholesale price is hovering between Rs 9 and Rs 9.50 per kg, consumers are being forced to shell out Rs 18-20 for a kilogram of onion. The supply from Nashik has dropped over the last one week to these states and some unscrupulous traders are using this to sell the vegetable at high prices.

Gautam Sinha, general secretary of Co-ordination Committee of the Onions Merchants Association of Greater Calcutta, said: "At present, the wholesale price of onions that are coming from Nashik are available between Rs 900 and Rs 950 per quintal. But the quality of some stock is not good so we have to reject them. This may be a reason for the rising prices. Supply from Nashik is declining. However, Bengal's Sukhsagar variety has entered the market. Once the flow of these onions increases, prices will come down. Sometimes traders and farmers do not release onions in the market in anticipation of a better price. This also pushes up prices."

Wholesale onion prices in Maharashtra are ruling below Rs 3 per kg for over two months now. In other onion growing regions, wholesale prices range between Rs 4.50 per kg to Rs 6 per kg.

Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon are the two biggest wholesale markets for onions. However, the movement of onion out of the state has been hit by the decline in availability of rakes on goods trains.

"The availability of railway rakes has reduced over the last 10-12 days. It is not possible to transport onions by road over such long distances because the freight rates are 3-4 times more," said Nandkumar Daga, president, Lasalgaon Traders' Association.

Currently, most of the onions from Nashik are going to West Bengal and the North-East because of ample local supply in other states. Though supply from Nashik to Kolkata has been affected, total onion arrival there has been constant at around 15,000 tonne from the last fortnight. Wholesale onion price is also constant between Rs 7/kg and Rs 8/kg from January.