Retail onion price up 57%

New Delhi As all-India average retail onion price shoots up by 57 per cent to Rs 47 per kg, the Centre on Friday decided to step up the sale of buffer onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg in retail markets in order to provide relief to consumers. The all-India average retail price of onion rose to Rs 47 per kg on Friday, from Rs 30 per kg in the year-ago period, as per the data maintained by the consumer affairs ministry. In the national capital, retail price of onion was at Rs 40/kg on Friday as against Rs 30/kg in the year-ago period, the data showed. “We have been offloading buffer onions since mid-August and we are stepping up the retail sale in order to check further rise in prices and provide relief to the consumers,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI. According to the ministry, onion is being offloaded from the buffer stock in both wholesale and retail markets in states where there is a sharp rise in prices.