High onion price burns a hole in the pocket
Kolkata: Onion prices have tightened their grip on household budgets in Kolkata, with retail rates climbing to Rs 70 a kg from Rs 60 two days ago. A fortnight ago, onions were selling for around Rs 30 a kg — a rise of more than 130% in barely two weeks. Rs 70 has become the common asking price, traders said While some retailers were selling onions at Rs 65 a kg. Following the intervention, the wholesale rate has been brought to around Rs 2,200 for a 40-kg bag. After transportation and handling costs, retailers should ideally be able to sell at around Rs 60 a kg. “One of the reasons is the proportion of damaged onions is much higher in a 40 kg bag. After sorting out, and keeping the damaged onion apart, if we sell onion below Rs 70, we have to forego our minimum profit margin,” said Chand Mondal, a retailer at Behala. “Onion was Rs 30 a kg barely two weeks ago and now it is Rs 70. On Aug 24, the all-India average retail onion price stood at Rs 43.53 a kg, 59% higher than Rs 27.37 a kg a year earlier. The govt-reported Kolkata average that day was Rs 53 a kg. Around 1.21 lakh tonnes have been procured this year. Buffer-stock onions are being sold at Rs 35 a kg through NCCF, NAFED and other government-supported outlets in Delhi-NCR. The Centre estimates onion production at more than 307 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 and says there is no overall supply shortage.
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“The modal wholesale price rose from around Rs 3,250 a quintal on Aug 18 to Rs 4,800 on Aug 26 before easing to around Rs 4,375 on Aug 29, “ said Tarun Sau, a wholesaler at Posta. We have already started buying less and using onion more sparingly in everyday cooking,” said Sanchita Karmakar from Chetla. The first dedicated “Kanda Express” carried supplies from Nashik to Delhi, while stocks are also being moved to other consumption centres. “There is sufficient production and availability of onions,” consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said while launching the intervention, adding that the measures were aimed at cooling seasonal price volatility.
The spike has come despite state government monitoring and raids to check profiteering. Traders blamed high wastage in current consignments. Posta market saw Nashik onion prices rise sharply during the second half of August. For consumers, the rise has come as other kitchen essentials remain expensive. For a family like ours, this kind of jump completely upsets the kitchen budget. The Centre has begun releasing onions from its buffer stock. Deterioration of stored onions and delays in fresh kharif crop arrivals remain concerns, potentially keeping prices firm until supplies improve. Download the TOI App.