Rs 35 per kg for onion; Kerala government with major move to control prices

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government took strong market intervention to provide relief to the people amid soaring onion prices. As part of this, Minister T Siddique announced that 100 tonnes of onion will be procured and brought to the market through the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF). An order for 30 tonnes of onion has been placed in the first phase. The procured onion will be made available to the public at Rs 35 per kg through the outlets of Horticorp and Supplyco, the minister said in a press conference.

In the wake of the significant increase in onion prices in the state, the decision for urgent market intervention was taken at an official-level meeting held at the Secretariat under the leadership of Ministers T. Siddique and Anoop Jacob. In the wake of the increase in wholesale onion prices in markets like Kollengode, Kayamkulam, Chalai and North Paravur, the same locations will get priority in the first phase. The intervention will then be extended to other areas later.

The minister clarified that more onions will be brought to the market as per the requirement and said money will not be a barrier. Horticorp and Supplyco will jointly coordinate the distribution. Horticorp's mobile outlets will also be utilised for sales. Storage facilities, including cold storage under the control of the Agriculture Department, will be set up in Vazhakulam to prevent the stored onions from spoiling. The minister said that the price and availability in the market will be constantly monitored and necessary interventions will be made.