Indore: Onions, Chana Dal Offered At Discounts As Prices Spike

Onion and Chana Dal are being offered to consumers at a discounted rate in Mandis in Indore at a time when their respective prices have shot up in the retail markets.

People queued at various Mandis across the town to procure Onions at Rs 25 per kg, against prevailing market prices of Rs 60. Similarly, Chana Dal is being offered at Rs 60 per kg, against the retail market price of Rs 80-90.

Suresh Patel, in-charge at Sanyogitaganj, Chahavni vegetable Mandi, told ANI that the government agricultural marketing agency National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) is offering these discounts to the consumers.

“Even the poor are getting Onions and Pulses in the market at half the price, which are otherwise expensive. I believe this will bring down the retail price of those items,” said Patel.

Pankaj Khandelwal of Omshree Trading, a distributor in Indore, said, “2 kg Onion per person is being sold at the rate of Rs 25 per kg, while 5 kg Gram Dal per person is being sold at the rate of Rs 60 per kg. Vehicles are deployed across the town and will continue until the price comes down in the market.”

A sudden price rise of Onions has burnt a hole in the pockets of the public in the midst of the festive season.

The price of Onions increased four times to Rs 80 a kg in the state capital Bhopal and thrice to Rs 60 a kg in Indore. Consumers are upset with the price rise yet are forced to buy as it is a necessary vegetable.

Traders said that the prices of Onions would continue to rise till the Diwali festival and after that when new onions would arrive in December, then the prices would decrease.

On a pan-India level, the central government had in August started releasing the staple vegetable from its buffer stock. The central government had earlier decided it would maintain 3 lakh tonne of onions in the 2023-24 season as buffer stock. In 2022-23, the government maintained 2.51 lakh tonne onion as buffer stock.

Buffer stock is maintained to meet any exigencies and for price stabilisation, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season.

Rabi Onion harvested during April – June accounts for 65 per cent of India’s onion production and meets the consumer’s demand till the Kharif crop is harvested in October-November. (ANI)

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