Prices high, govt to buy 11,000 tons of onion from Turkey

Last month, the Union cabinet approved importing 120,000 tonnes of onions to improve the domestic supply and control prices that have skyrocketed to Rs 75-120 per kg across major cities.

Amid skyrocketing prices of onions, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution asked state-run MMTC to place an order for the import of 11,000 metric tons (MT) of onions from Turkey.

According to sources, the Department of Consumer Affairs has given direction to MMTC in this regard, and the imported onions will begin arriving from late December or early January.

Sources further said that the fresh direction for import of 11,000 MT of onions was in addition to the 6,090 MT of onions which will start arriving from Egypt mid-December.

Earlier too the government, on November 9, directed MMTC to import up to 1 lakh MT of onions from surplus countries. In fact, department roped in Indian embassies in major onion-exporting countries – Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt – to facilitate the imports of onion.

Source