Amid rising onion prices, 32,000 tonnes of onions rotted in government godowns

New Delhi, October 25, 2020, Sunday

Rising prices of onions are bringing tears to the eyes of the common man and the situation is getting worse.

Last year, when onion prices soared, the central government imported onions. However, onions began to arrive from abroad and at the same time, the prices of onions entering the Indian market fell. Now this onion has rotted away. This quantity of onion is not even in a position to be sold.

In January 2020, the then Supply and Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan was also informed about the matter. He said that about 36,000 tonnes of onions had arrived in India from abroad before the end of January. Other states refused to take this quantity. These states argued that foreign onions do not have the taste of Indian onions.

The government's reply in Parliament revealed that only 13 states had purchased foreign onions, including Andhra, Kerala, Telangana, UP, Uttarakhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Haryana and Meghalaya.