Short supply sparks sharp spike in onion prices in Telangana

Hyderabad: The price of onions has surpassed that of apples in the State as the staple of the kitchen is now selling at Rs 100 per kg due to severe shortage of supply from other States.

Lower middle classes and poor are buying the damaged onions which is available at cheaper prices as they could not afford to go for good quality onion in the city.

Snack makers and tiffin centers have already stopped using onion as ingredient while restaurants are charging extra to prepare Onion Dosa which is most sought after breakfast for many denizens. The State Marketing department officials said that limited supply from the heavy rain-hit Maharashtra and Karnataka was one of the mains reasons for the skyrocketing prices of onions from Rs 40 to Rs 100 in a just 10 days time. The onion farm output in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was also hit all time low due to recent incessant rains. Farmers in Moinabad and Shankarpally and Gadwal in Telangana and Kurnool in Andhra major producers of onion.

But due to short supply, prices have shot up in the Malakpet wholesale market. The gap between demand and supply is increasing everyday and prices may rise further till Diwali , officials said.

The State government has announced opening of special counters to sell onion at Rs 35 per kg at all Rythu Bazaars in Hyderabad . The shortage of supply led to closure of some counters, officials said, adding that unless onions are imported from other countries, the prices of the commodity will not come down. It will take at least three to four months to hit the markets the new stocks from the farms.

On the other, apple, which is considered a costly fruit, is available at Rs 80 per kg in the retail markets in the state particularly in Hyderabad.