Increased arrival of onions from Bellary and Kolhapur have reduced the prices to a certain extent but the wholesale market is yet to come into the grips with these arrivals as they are not in a position to stock them for more than two days.
However, retail market showed significant improvement as the supply chain has relaxed a bit due to the arrival of onions from Karnataka and Maharashtra.
There was shortfall in supply of onions from Andhra Pradesh because of floods in the neighbouring State.
Escalated prices of onions have reduced the purchase level in the retail market.
At Nethaji Market, Vellore, where people used to buy huge quantum of onion at one stroke have restricted their purchase to 500 grams and 250 grams, say wholesalers.
Market vendors say that the quality has taken a big hit and they have to re-invite their customers to the market once they get regular stocks.
A bag of quality onions was supplied at ₹8,000 per 50-kg bag, a week ago and it has come down to ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 now, which is a welcome move, says president of Vellore Town Nethaji Market Vegetable Vendors Association, S.S.T.A. Balu.
However, he said that the wholesalers and retailers have to exhaust their stocks within two days, which is not happening now, due to exorbitant price hike that shook the entire nation.
“In retail market the good ones are sold between ₹80-120 per kg, whereas smaller ones are sold at ₹30-40 per kg, he said. With more stocks expected in the next couple of days, the prices are expected to settle down and market will see an upswing,” he said.
