Onion prices will moderate after 3 weeks: Pawar

New Delhi: The government today said prices of onions are likely to remain high for the next three weeks, but the situation is likely to improve thereafter in the wake of its move to ban exports of the commodity.

“Onion prices will remain high for the next three weeks and the situation is likely to improve only after two-three weeks. Ban on onion exports should help reduce the prices,” Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.

Yesterday, the government decided to suspend onion exports till January 15 in light of skyrocketing prices of the commodity, which have jumped to around Rs 60-70 a kilo due to “hoarding and speculation”.

The prices of onions have soared to Rs 60-70 per kg in retail markets in Delhi and many other important cities of the country from Rs 35-40 just a few days ago.

Amid soaring prices of onion in the country, truck loads of the commodity arrived here today from Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route for supply to northern markets in India.

As many as 13 truck loads (5 to 15 tonne per truck) of onion have arrived from Pakistan, a senior official of Customs department in Amritsar told PTI without quantifying the total import consignment.

“About five (Indian) importers have brought in onion from Lahore today for supply in the markets of Ludhiana,Amritsar, Jalandhar in Punjab and Delhi”, the official said.

The landed cost of onion from Pakistan stood at Rs. 18-20 per kg, he said adding this included custom duty, cess, transportation and handling charges.

According to importers, it was for the first time in this year, onions are being imported from Pakistan.