With the prices of onion constantly fluctuating, a new price tag was observed today at the Koley market where it is being sold at Rs. 130/kg. Onion sales have slumped by 60 to 70 per cent while the demand for other vegetables has become higher.

Mr Bishal Chanda, the secretary of the Koley market association, who is also a wholesaler, said, “The wholesale rate for today’s market is Rs. 4000-4500 for 40 kg of large onions. We received only 40 quintals of onions from South India, especially from North Karnataka. Our retailers must translate it to Rs.130 to 135 per kg for the large onions and Rs. 120 for small ones to earn some profit.” It is learnt that the Koley market which usually receives 15 to 20 trucks of onion, received just two to three trucks today.

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Rabindranath Koley, a state government task force member, said, “The situation can be expected to change in the first week of January when supply of new onions will arrive from outside the state. Only six trucks came to the Posta market today though it should have been a minimum of 30.”

He also said that the shortage in onion supply from Maharashtra, North Karnataka, and Rajasthan, triggered the rise in the prices of onions.

At Maniktala market, retailer Ramchandra Saho had managed to sell 500 grams of onions till 12 p.m. He said, “I could not sell even 2 kg of onion yesterday. People are forming queues for other winter vegetables. There is a variety of other vegetables in the market now. Every year, in this season, the prices of summer vegetables usually falls because of less demand. But this time, it is excessive and so I decided not to refresh my stock,” Saho said.

In most markets in the city, the onion price shot upto Rs.120 to Rs.130 per kilo which is expected to remain at that level for a week. Even in Bangalore and Delhi, large onions are sold at between Rs. 80 and Rs 100 per kg, approximately. Sunita, a housewife, upset about the quality of onion in the market, said, “We can’t keep these onions for long and also since winter has arrived we are looking for variety in vegetables.”