New Delhi: With onion prices soaring to ₹ 80 per kg in major cities, the government today took steps to boost supplies of the commodity by importing them and curbing their exports.
Fearing that prices of the politically sensitive commodity could get out of hand, the government asked cooperative major NAFED to import onions from Pakistan and Iran, according to an official statement.
The government also imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of 650 dollars per tonne of onions, sources said. The MEP had been scrapped in May 2012.
Onions are being sold at ₹ 70-80 per kg in retail markets in the national capital, Kolkata, Patna and Chandigrah. In Chennai and Mumbai, the price range is ₹ 60-70 per kg.
To cool prices in Delhi, where assembly elections are due in November, it asked NAFED to buy 4-5 tonnes of onions a day from Rajasthan to sell through its outlets and mobile vans.
