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Journalism of Courage
The Centre has offered imported onions to states and Union Territories for direct distribution to consumers for Rs 49–58 per kg, in a bid to bring down onion prices, said Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, on Tuesday.
Paswan said the central government had decided to import 41,950-metric tonne (MT) onions through state-owned MMTC to reduce prices and augment availability; of this, 12,000 MT has arrived and the rest is expected to arrive by the end of January.
Paswan said import of 1 lakh MT of onions 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.
Briefing the media about the availability and prices of onions, Paswan said: “The government has decided to offer onions to state governments at the landing price in Mumbai ranging from Rs 49 to Rs 58 per kilogram.” Meanwhile, some states have not shown interest to take the imported onions.
States had initially put a total demand for 33,139 MT of onions, which was later revised to 14,309 MT due to the reduction in domestic prices and improved availability, among other reasons, said Paswan. He added some states had also not confirmed their requirement or demand.
He urged all states to honour the demands they had placed initially. As per a Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution statement, Maharashtra (3,480 MT), Assam (10,000 MT), Haryana (2,500 MT), Karnataka (250 MT) and Odisha (100 MT) have withdrawn their demand. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Punjab have not confirmed their demand, shows the statement.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash Srivastava, who was present at the occasion, said the Cabinet Secretary held a video conference Tuesday to persuade state governments to buy more onions from the imported stock.
The latest data of retail prices available on the portal of the Department of Consumer Affairs shows as of January 7, of the 93 cities and towns for which the data is available, the retail prices of onions have come down in 76 cities compared to a month ago. For instance, retail price of onions in Delhi on Tuesday was Rs 70 per kg — 28 per cent lower than Rs 98 per kg recorded on December 7.
