Onion prices will drop to Rs35 per kg, says Dikshit

IANS/New DelhiWith the arrival of over 3,000 tonnes of onions in the national capital yesterday, prices will drop to Rs35-40 per kg from today, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.“The daily consumption of onions in Delhi is around 1,000 tonnes, and today we have received 3,200 tonnes. So the prices at all our outlets will fall to Rs35-40 per kg from tomorrow,” Dikshit told reporters here.The Delhi government, in association with other agencies like the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India, on Friday opened 1,000 outlets across the capital selling onions at nominal rates. Of the total, the Delhi government operates 600 outlets.Prices of onions at these outlets yesterday were Rs40-45 per kg. Onions have now arrived in the capital from other states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra.Dikshit said her aim was to bring down the prices to Rs25-30 and expressed the confidence that the government would “achieve it soon.”The chief minister criticised opposition political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and accused them of indulging in “political gimmickry” with “no intent of helping people.”“A lot of misguidance is being done by some political parties who have no intent to help the people and are indulging in gimmickry. We are not politicising the issue and are instead trying to solve the problem,” Dikshit said.Taking a dig at the BJP, which was voted out of power in Delhi in 1998 following spiralling onion prices, Dikshit said the party lost because unlike her government, they did not go out in the markets and on the streets to help people.The BJP raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha and demanded an immediate ban on export.Party leader Balbir Punj demanded an explanation from the government on the cause of increase in onion prices.“Onion prices today are more than petrol and diesel. The production of onion this year is only 5% less compared to last year but the prices are 500% more,” said Punj.He said the problem was due to a cartel of onion traders in Nashik in Maharashtra.