New Delhi: The rising prices of onions and vegetables, which have already been eroding the budgets of the people in the national capital, are not expected to fall till October 15, the wholesale dealers predicted.
“The onions are the most expensive and even in the wholesale market they being sold at Rs60-70 per kg. The prices will continue to remain so till October 15,” Mahinder Khurana, a wholesale dealer at Jagriti Agro, said.
“As the demand during the festivals is higher, so the prices may remain high till Diwali,” said Ram Dhan, another wholesaler at the Azadpur Mandi here.
The shortage of stocks and low arrivals of vegetables, especially of onions, from the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra have caused the price to rise, dealers said.
“As the arrival has been in great shortage, so the prices have been rising. The gap in demand and the supply is very huge,” Aditya Mishra, deputy secretary, Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, said.
According to APMC figures, the highest wholesale price of onions was Rs55 in June, and the prices have touched Rs70 within three months’ time now.
While the wholesale prices are high, the retail prices are worse still and are making people virtually cry. “In the retail market, we are getting two varieties of onions. The best ones are for Rs80 per kg, while the others are being sold at Rs75 per kg. I wanted to save even Rs5, so I chose the lower quality,” said Akanksha Gupta, a homemaker living in a joint family.
IANS
