Know your onions: Buyers left teary eyed as prices surge to Rs 200 a kilo

Onion prices continued to rise in many cities across the country, with residents in cities like Madurai and Bengaluru paying a whopping Rs 200 per kg. Pinching consumers' pockets hard, retail onion prices have surpassed the Rs 100 per kg mark in most cities across the country.

The key kitchen staple was quoting high in the tier II and tier III cities as well. Onion prices have been high for past few weeks due to fall in production of the Kharif crop following unseasonal rainfall in key growing states, including Maharashtra.

While the aveage price of onion is Rs 140 in Bengaluru, it shot up to a whopping Rs 200 per kg due to severe short supply in the market. Same is the case in Coimbatore.

"Onion price touched Rs 200 per kg in some retail shops of Bengaluru, after its wholesale rate ranged between Rs 5,500 and Rs 14,000 per quintal," state agricultural marketing officer Siddagangaiah said.

The average modal price of onion in the retail markets was ruling at Rs 100/kg according to the department of Consumer Affairs, while the maximum rate was ruling at Rs 165 per kg in Panaji on Sunday, the data showed.

In most cities, onion was quoting above Rs 100/kg in the retail markets, while at Nashik in Maharashtra -- the key producing centre -- the rates were ruling at Rs 79/kg 

"There is no doubt onion prices are rising. The main reason for rise in price was damage to the onion crop due to rains. Much of onion has been damaged in Maharasthra, the key growing state. However, the government has supplied buffer stock and asked MMTC to import onions and it should arrive by January 20," Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Danve Raosaheb Dadarao said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Take a look at how much you will have to pay for onion in different cities

Cities with highest onion price	Price per kg
Panaji (Goa)	Rs 165
Kozhikode (Kerala)	Rs 160
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala)	Rs 160
Wayanad (Kerala)	Rs 160
Mayabunder (Andaman)	Rs 150

Onions continued to be most affordable in Jhansi

Cities with lowest onion prices	Price per kg
Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh)	Rs 43
Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh)	Rs 50
Sagar (Madhya Pradesh)	Rs 50
Rampurhat (West Bengal)	Rs 50
Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)	Rs 55

Onion prices across India (from lowest to highest)

North Zone	Price per kg
Jhansi	Rs 43
Kanpur	Rs 65
Solan	Rs 70
Allahabad

Rs 75 Agra Rs 80 Dharamshala Rs 80 Karnal Rs 85 Chandigarh Rs 85 Amritsar Rs 90 Haldwani Rs 90 Panchkula Rs 90 Srinagar Rs 90 Varanasi Rs 92 Bathinda Rs 92

Delhi

Rs 98 Dehradun Rs 100 Gorakhpur Rs 100 Haridwar Rs 100 Hisar Rs 100 Jammu Rs 100

Ludhiana

Rs 100 Mandi Rs 100 Rudrapur Rs 100 Shimla Rs 100

Gurgaon

Rs 120 Lucknow Rs 120 Meerut Rs 120

West zone	Price per kg
Ambikapur	Rs 50
Gwalior	Rs 55
Sagar	Rs 50
Ahmedabad	Rs 90
Bhuj	Rs 60
Indore	Rs 63
Jaipur	Rs 70
Rewa	Rs 70
Durg	Rs 70
Rajkot	Rs 75
Jabalpur	Rs 72
Nashik	Rs 79
Bhopal	Rs 85
Pune	Rs 87
Nagpur	Rs 88
Surat	Rs 98
Raipur	Rs 100
Jagdalpur	Rs 120
Mumbai	Rs 120
Panaji	Rs 165

East Zone	Price per kg
Muzzafarpur

85 Purnia 85 Patna Rs 90 Kharagpur Rs 100 Ranchi Rs 100 Malda Rs 105 Darbhanga Rs 110 Jeypore Rs 110 Purulia Rs 120 Rourkela Rs 120 Sambalpur Rs 120 Balasore Rs 120 Berhampur Rs 120 Bhubaneshwar Rs 130 Cuttack Rs 130 Kolkata Rs 140

North-East Zone	Price per kg
Guwahati	Rs 96
Itanagar	Rs 100
Agartala	Rs 120

South Zone	Price per kg
Hyderabad	Rs 75
Warangal	Rs 80
Adilabad	Rs 80
Jadcherla	Rs 83
Karimnagar	Rs 85
Kurnool	Rs 85
Bengaluru	Rs 140
Chennai	Rs 138
Coimbatore	Rs 125
Cuddalore	Rs 120
Dharmapuri	Rs 130
Dharwad	Rs 110
Dindigul	Rs 140
Ernakulam	Rs 150
Vijaywada	Rs 90
Mysore	Rs 102
Visakhapatnam	Rs 105
Suryapet	Rs 115
Tirunelveli	Rs 125
Vellore	Rs 134
Puducherry	Rs 135
Port Blair	Rs 140
Palakkad: Rs 140

Rs 140 Thiruchirapalli Rs 140 Mangalore Rs 149 Thrissur Rs 150 Mayabunder Rs 150 Wayanad Rs 155 Kozhikode Rs 160 T.Puram Rs 160

The government has approved import of up to 1.2 lakh tonnes of onions to check the ongoing price rise. State-owned MMTC has been directed to import up to 1 lakh tonne onions through global and country-specific import tenders.

The average modal price of onion in the wholesale markets was ruling at Rs 9,000/quintal according to the department of Consumer Affairs, while the maximum rate was ruling at Rs 15,000 per quintal in Wayanad on Sunday, the data showed.

Cities with lowest wholesale onion price

Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh): Rs 3,500 per quintal (or Rs 35 per kg)

Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): Rs 4,200 per quintal (or Rs 42 per kg)

Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh): Rs 4,400 per quintal (or Rs 44 per kg)

Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): Rs 4,500 per quintal (or Rs 45 per kg)

Rampurhat (West Bengal): Rs 4,600 per quintal (or Rs 46 per kg)

Cities with highest wholesale onion price

Wayanad (Kerala): Rs 15,000 per quintal (or Rs 150 per kg)

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Rs 14,898 per quintal (or Rs 149 per kg)

Kozhikode (Kerala): Rs 14,000 per quintal (or Rs 140 per kg)

Mayabunder (Andaman): Rs 13,333 per quintal (or Rs 133 per kg)

Panaji (Goa): Rs 12,500 per quintal (or Rs 125 per kg)