New Delhi, December 19: With prices of onions shooting upto Rs 160/kg in some metros and are at an average of Rs 100/per kilogram (kg) in major cities, reports are arriving that prices of potatoes shot up by 75 percent at the retail level in Delhi and have doubled in Kolkata. Also, sharp rise in the prices have been observed in other major cities, compared to last year.

According to a report, published in Times of India, the prices of potatoes in four metropolitan cities were beyond Rs 30 per kg, which was below 20 last month. On Wednesday, the potatoes were sold in Mumbai and New Delhi at Rs 32/kg, while in Chennai it was Rs 24/kg and in Kolkata, it was Rs 24/kg -- says official data from Consumer Affairs Ministry. However, it was sold at Rs 40/kg in several pockets as per various reports. Onion Imports From Turkey Rise by 12,500 MT, Delivery Expected by December 27.

The price monitoring cell of the Consumer Affairs Ministry claim that the prices will fall in coming 10 days with the arrival of fresh stock. The Union Ministry blame unseasonal rains -- since October, 2019 -- in the potato growing areas of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal for the sharp rise in prices of potatoes. Adding on, lack of adequate storage facilities are also being given the reason for unexpected rise in prices.

Reports state that around 15.5 million tonnes of potatoes were produced since the beginning of this year. Out of this, 11.5 million tonnes were loaded in cold storage and the rest were directly by farmers in local markets. With condition blowing out of proportion, the government stated that barely 355.5 tonne of potatoes arrived increased on November 18 this year to 1,284 tonne on Wednesday at Azadpur mandi.

Earlier, the Union government on Thursday announced that it has given contracts for additional 12,500 Metric Tonnes (MT) of onions from Turkey, as the prices crossed Rs 160/kg in some metros. With this, the total import of onions contracted reached to 42,500 MT of which 12,000 MT to arrive in India before 31st December, 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2019 11:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).