New Delhi (NVI): The central government has decided to offer onion to state governments at prices ranging from Rs. 49 to Rs. 58 per kg, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said today.
Addressing a press conference to brief about the overall availability and prices of onion across the country along with the imported quantities, Paswan said imports began from mid-December and states were asked to place their firm demand in order to get the supply from the imported stock.
“States had initially put a demand for 33,139 MT of onion which was later revised to 14,309 MT due to various reasons including reduction in domestic prices and improved availability,” he said.
“1 Lakh MT of onion was the target but since the onion growing season had ended across the world and international prices were high, orders were placed strategically in small lots and over a period of time to ensure international prices don’t increase drastically, ” he said.
“The Union Government had planned the imports based on the initial demand and has already contracted almost 40,000 MT of onion which will arrive in India before the end of January,” he said.
“So far, 12,000 MT of onion have arrived in the country and is ready for distribution among the state government,” he added.
“The main concern is to protect the interest of consumers and for ensuring that, the domestic supply is being augmented with imports so that prices are moderated and overall availability is increased,” he said.
“There has to be a coordinated effort between the central and state governments and the consumers to ensure this objective is achieved,” he added.
Therefore, the Union Minister exhorted all state governments to honour the demands they had placed initially and may even go beyond their initial demand and distribute the imported onions in their respective states to ensure that prices are moderated.
Earlier today, Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash Srivastava held a video conference to persuade state governments to buy more onions from the imported stock for direct retailing and distribution in the state to increase overall availability and reduce prices.
“December onwards, the prices had begun coming down which led the state governments to also reduce their respective demands,” he said.
