By: Ankita Kulkarni
September 11 2020
The wholesale and retail prices of onions have doubled from ₹1200 per quintal in August to ₹2,400 in the first two weeks of September 2020.
The wholesale and retail prices of onions have doubled from ₹1200 per quintal in August to ₹2,400 in the first two weeks of September 2020. Onion prices are witnessing a steep rise in retail and wholesale markets in several parts of the country with excessive monsoon rains, causing crop damage in some states and affecting the quality of stored items in some others. The average wholesale onion price at the Lasalgaon APMC, the country’s largest wholesale onion market, has increased by 15% due to a rise in demand. The average wholesale price at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee(APMC) was recorded at ₹2400 per quintal on September 9, 2020. Wholesale onion prices have almost doubled over the past 11 days, from ₹1200 per quintal in August last week to ₹2,400 per quintal, and retail prices have touched ₹50 per kg in Mumbai and Pune, and even ₹70 per kg in Delhi. The average wholesale onion prices are expected to go beyond ₹3500 per quintal according to the APMC sources, in the next couple of days. APMC officials had further stated that it would take one and a half months for fresh Kharif onions to hit the market, and the price trend will be upward until then. In Nashik city’s retail markets, onions are sold at ₹30 per kg. The fresh rise in wholesale prices is expected to reflect in the next couple of weeks.