Crop loss due to floods behind rising onion prices, relief by Nov end: Ram Vilas Paswan

Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday said the loss of crops due to floods led to a demand and supply gap and rise in onion prices in the country.

"The main reason behind rising onion prices is the demand and supply gap. The crop got destroyed due to rains and floods. People will get relief by November end," Paswan told here.

Earlier today, the Union Minister held a meeting with Consumer Affairs Secretary AK Srivastava and Food Secretary Ravikant over the rising onion prices and the onion import issue.

Also, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) through an inter-ministerial committee has advised the Union Government to act as a facilitator for onion imports to ease the process and ensure a quick and healthy supply from other countries.

The meeting was chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Srivastava.

The representatives of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare including the Horticulture Commissioner, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), Mother Dairy, Kendriya Bhandar, Representative of Delhi Government, a representative from the APMC Azadpur and senior officials of the Department of Consumer Affairs also attended the meeting.

The prices of vegetables, primarily onions, have drastically increased across the country which has caused problems for the consumers.

( With inputs from ANI )