Govt asks public sector companies to import onion

NEW DELHI: The government today asked its three trading companies, including MMTC, to import onion, a step coinciding with abolition of import duty on the commodity to ease the crisis over spiraling prices.

"I met CMDs of three public sector companies MMTC, STC and PEC and asked them to look around for import contracts (for onion)," Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters here.

Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, who is personally monitoring the situation, earlier in the day asked the commerce ministry to "speed up" onion imports to augment domestic availability.

The government's concerted action follows a steep rise in onion prices, which soared from Rs 10-11 in June to Rs 70-85 per kg in retail markets across the country.

As part of measures to rein in onion prices, the government has already banned exports and abolished import duties on onion.