Desperate onion traders try to hoodwink NAFED

MUMBAI, Nov 26: With the fresh arrivals of the Kharif onion crop, traders, who have been annoyed because of the export ban on the commodi...

MUMBAI, Nov 26: With the fresh arrivals of the Kharif onion crop, traders, who have been annoyed because of the export ban on the commodity, have become desperate.

A cartel of traders attempted to buy rotten onions from NAFED for Rs 41 per quintal (41 paise per kilo) and create an impression that onion prices had crashed that low, requiring the lifting of the ban.

The NAFED had announced that it would sell its stock of onions. The stock of 10,000 tonnes of onions had

been built up between April and June on the eve of the recent general elections, on the instructions of the Union Government. With the arrival of the fresh crop and the export being banned, the Union Government has asked NAFED to sell its stocks, which anyway had started rotting after about six months in the godowns.

Story continues below this ad

After grading the onions in its stock, NAFED offered about ten tonnes of rotten onions for sale. The onions were inedible and could be used as fodder or fertilizer. Some traders offered to buy the stock for Rs 41 per quintal.The NAFED officials refused to sell below Rs 100 and finally withdrew from the auction.

However, the traders told reporters of local newspapers that the prices of onions had crashed so badly that onions were being sold for as little as Rs 41 per quintal. The branch manager of NAFED, G K Gupta, when contacted, said that it was wrong that NAFED had sold its stocks for Rs 41 per quintal and that the impression created by the traders was incorrect. He said that even the rotten onions would fetch a price in the range of Rs 100 to Rs 130 per quintal. He further pointed out that the average wholesale prices of Rabi (summer) onions were around Rs 250 per quintal and of the fresh Kharif onions were around Rs 200 to Rs 350 per quintal.