Stinging onion prices make buyers cry

NEW DELHI - Sky-rocketting onion prices are literally bringing tears to the eyes. With rates shooting to Rs.70-80 per kg, the humble bulb has become really pricey, forcing people to drastically chop their purchase of the mainstay vegetable.

“What option do we have but not to buy onions,” said Archana Kaul, a government official living in the south Delhi locality of Sadiq Nagar.

“We can compromise on some dishes, but not everywhere. I hope the situation gets normal soon,” Kaul said fervently.

However, with vacation time round the corner and sizzling dishes the order of the day, cutting down on onion-consuming delicacies is proving tough for many.

“It is winter vacation for children and we have relatives visiting us… it is rather tough on us for such a basic commodity to be priced so high,” Meera Khanna, a housewife from Sarojini Nagar, told IANS.

“At Rs.80, onion today is more expensive than the vegetables it is used in,” she said.

Shalini D’Souza, another housewife, is wondering how she will manage expenses for Christmas as the government has made it clear that the situation will continue for two to three weeks.

“I never anticipated such a hike in prices. If you are inviting friends for a Christmas dinner, you can not do without onions. I have no option but to buy even if it is Rs.100 a kg,” she said.

“It will be the same on the New Year, it is difficult,” she added.

The price rise is also worrying small restaurants as they gear up for the holiday season.

“The onion prices have gone up almost three times, it is a problem for us as it has hit our profit margin significantly,” said Rajiv, who owns a small restaurant in Lakshmi Nagar area of Delhi.

“We look forward to making more profit in winters as it is the holiday season, and lots of people go for shopping and eat out. But such an unprecedented price is cutting down our margin,” he said.

However, the big restaurants are not much bothered as they usually fix the prices for their supplies for the whole year with wholesalers.

“Since we have a yearly bond with suppliers, under which the price is fixed no matter how much the market fluctuates, there will not be much difference for us,” Anand, purchase manager of Rajinder da Dhaba restaurant in South Delhi, told IANS.

On Monday, to deal with the spike in prices, the government banned exports of onion till Jan 15.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is chairing a high-level meeting Tuesday to tackle the crisis. The meeting will be attended by Food and Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf besides officials from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), an official said.