Andhra Pradesh: Chandrababu Naidu protests against rising prices of onions in State

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu along with other leaders of his party held protests in Amaravati against the rising prices of the onions in the State. The protest in the wake of onions price was held on Sunday. On Saturday, the price of onions shot up to as high as Rs. 250 per kilogram in the Chittoor district. The price of the degraded variety (almost rotting onions) had sky-rocketed as high as Rs 200 per kilogram.

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Andhra Government subsidises onion prices

The Andhra Pradesh government has spent over Rs. 10 crore procuring around 16,000 quintal onions since November 15 and providing it to consumers at subsidised rates as less as Rs. 25 per kilogram as against the skyrocketed market price. The subsidized onions being sold by the state government have also led to a stampede like a situation where people are fighting over the procurement of onions.

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The inflated price of onions, reportedly Rs. 13,010 per quintal on Thursday dipped to Rs. 12,800 on Friday and further went down to Rs. 9,300 on Saturday in Kurnool, however, there is no relief on the retail prices or demand across the state. 

Besides, Andhra Pradesh several other states have been hit by the price hike. West Bengal is one of those states where the price of onions that has been hit by the price hike, however, the onions transported from Nashik are said to give a relief in the prices in West Bengal. Onion traders in Nashik have assured their Posta counterpart in West Bengal of increasing the supply gradually.

Prices have shot up due to the huge shortage of onion in the last three to four months following heavy rain in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the main growing regions, which affected crops.

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