AGARTALA, Sep 25 (TIWN): Onion price hikes have affected Tripura badly alongwith other states in India which was recorded on Wednesday higher than Tuesday’s price. On Wednesday onion price in Tripura was recorded from Rs 65 to Rs. 70, varied from place to place, quality to size. The fundamental food ingredient onion price has been skyrocketing everyday, faster than fuel prices and “nature” has been blamed for that. However, few media reports also blamed the trade cut with Pakistan is causing vegetable price hikes in India. In many places, the onion price has gone higher than the existing fuel price, whereas the buffer stock is also at the down layer. Currently, the Centre has a buffer stock of 56,000 tonnes of onion, of which 16,000 tonnes has been offloaded so far. In Delhi, 200 tonnes a day is being offloaded, news agency PTI reported.

About 90 percent of India’s onion comes from the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. Of this, Maharashra contributes to nearly one-third of the country’s production of the vegetable.Nashik, Pune, Ahmednagar, and Aurangabad form the onion-growing belt of Maharashtra. The current rise in onion prices is a result of last year’s drought and a delayed monsoon this year, said a report.

On September 6, state-owned MMTC (Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India) had floated tenders for importing 2,000 tonnes of onions from ‘Pakistan, Egypt, China, Afghanistan and other countries of origin’, whereas Pakistan was dropped from the list.