What Is Behind The Rise In Onion Prices Across India, And When Is It Likely To Come Down?

Onion prices have rapidly increased across most parts of India in the past few weeks, going up by as much as 50 per cent in some places.

In Delhi NCR, onion was selling at an average of Rs 70-80 per kg, compared to the Rs 40-50 just over a week ago.

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How much does a kilo of onion cost?

With the current trend, onion prices are expected to touch Rs 100 per kg by the first week of November in Delhi-NCR.

It is not just Delhi; in Maharashtra, the average wholesale prices have gone up to Rs 45-48/kg in less than 10 days.

At the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Yard in Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru, wholesale prices of onion stood at Rs 65 per kg as of Thursday.

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In Odisha, the kitchen staple was selling at around Rs 60-70 per kg.

The all-India average retail price of onion rose to Rs 47 per kg on Friday, from Rs 30 per kg in the year-ago period, as per the data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry.

When will onion prices come down?

Data from the Department of Consumer Affairs reveals that the average wholesale price of onions as of October 26 has reached Rs 3,112.6 per quintal, a significant increase from Rs 2,506.62 per quintal on October 1.

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What makes matters worse is that the onion prices are projected to be on the higher side in November and cool down in December, with the arrival of the delayed new Kharif crop.

What is behind the current onion price rise?

While it is not uncommon for onion prices to increase in winter, between the two harvests, erratic monsoons in key onion-producing states, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, have been blamed for the current spike.

Usually, the Kharif onion starts arriving in the market by late September or October.

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But this year, due to the crop losses and delay in harvesting due to the late monsoons, the Kharif onion has not reached the market yet.

This has resulted in the stored rabi onion getting exhausted, causing the price to increase in both wholesale and retail markets.

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How government is intervening

Meanwhile, the government has decided to step up the sale of buffer onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg in retail markets in order to provide relief to consumers.

"We have been offloading buffer onions since mid-August, and we are stepping up the retail sale in order to check further rise in prices and provide relief to the consumers," Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI.

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According to the ministry, onion is being offloaded from the buffer stock in both wholesale and retail markets in states where there is a sharp rise in prices. Since mid-August, about 1.7 lakh tonne of buffer onion has been offloaded in 22 states at different locations.

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