BHOPAL: Unable to manage a mountain of rotting onions, the Madhya Pradesh government has now decided to give away onions for free. The decision will cause a Rs 100-crore loss to the exchequer and was announced after 3.28 lakh quintals — worth Rs 30 crore — decayed in warehouses.
Onion prices began crashing in May this year. To douse unrest among growers, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced in June that onions would be bought from farmers at Rs 6/kg. Procurement centres were set up and 10.4 lakh quintals of onions were purchased. But as the state did not have adequate storage facility, the bulbs started rotting in the monsoon. The state began looking for options to sell off procured onions but the prices offered by bidders were too low.
The state has now decided that the remaining onions will be given away for free at fair price shops. “These will be sold at a token Re1/kg so to recover transportation costs,” said general manager (procurement) of Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation Yogesh Joshi.
Bureau Report
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