The central cooperative NAFED will soon begin importing onions in a bid to tame soaring prices, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. The government is already facilitating import of the kitchen staple by private traders, with 7,000 tonnes of the bulb already having arrived in the country, and another 25,000 tonnes expected to arrive before Deepavali.
In the week since the Centre imposed stock limits, invoking the provisions of the newly amended Essential Commodities Act, the all-India average retail price of onions has continued to rise, increasing by ₹10 to almost ₹66 per kg, although Mr. Goyal emphasised that prices have largely remained stable over the last three days. Apart from imports, he expressed the hope that the expected arrival of the new kharif crop next month would also help to cool down prices.