Onion prices hover between Rs 55-70 per kg across country

Lucknow/Patna/Bhopal/Ludhiana [India], Sept 24 (ANI): As prices of onions soared drastically over the past week, people in several parts of the country including Lucknow, Patna, Bhopal and Ludhiana are feeling the pinch.
Onion prices are reported to be around Rs 60 per kg in Lucknow.
"Onion prices have soared to Rs 60 per kg. It is difficult for poor people to eat onions now. I appeal to the government to intervene in this matter," Jaichand Yadav, a local Lucknow resident said.
"The prices should be normally around Rs 20-25 per kg. It is exorbitant at Rs 60 per kg now. There were a lot of expectations from the government but the situation is now for all to see," Vijay Bahadur Singh, another local said.
"Previously, I used to buy onions at Rs 15 per kilo and sell it at Rs 20. Now the buying rate is Rs 52/53 and selling price is Rs 60 per kilo. The government should intervene to keep the prices in check," an onion seller in Lucknow said.
People were troubled by high prices of Onion in Patna as well where it has risen to Rs 55 per kg.
"People are not buying onions in the market. The wholesale price is around Rs 42/43 per kilo and the selling price is around Rs 55 per kg," Sujit Kumar, an onion seller in the city said.
"Onion is expensive because of low production due to rains in Nashik. Onion is at around Rs 50-60. We used to buy around 5 kg of onions but now we are forced to buy only half kg," Santosh Kumar, a local resident said.
The onion prices in Bhopal have risen to Rs 70 per kg and the prices of other vegetables have also risen drastically.
"Onion is being sold at Rs 70 per kg at this time. All the vegetable prices are running high. Because of the rains, the production has suffered. The customers think that we are looting them when we tell them the prices," Qureshi, a vegetable seller said.
"The rates of onions and other vegetables have increased very much. Earlier, we used to buy a higher quantity and now we are buying less. Coriander is being sold at Rs 120 per kg and even cucumber is being sold at Rs 40 per kg," Raj Goswami, a local resident said.
In Ludhiana onions are priced at Rs 60 per kilo.
"The sale of onions has become very slow. Earlier, those who were buying around 5 kg are now buying only 1 kg," Narendra Kumar, an onion seller said.
"The prices were low last month and now it is high. We are forced to pay high prices to buy regular quantities," Baljeet Singh, a local resident said.
Amid the reports of price rise of onions in several parts of the country, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said the Centre is ready to provide buffer stock of onion to the states to check price rise.
"We had kept 50,000 metric tonnes of onion in buffer stock out of which we still have 35,000 metric tonnes of onion. We are ready to give onion to the state governments at lower rates," Paswan said at a press conference in New Delhi. (ANI)