<p>"It is very unfortunate that onion prices have risen very high...Now there is a mismatch between supply from mandi to the consumer point. Those bottlenecks have to be removed and I will talk to concerned ministries," the finance minister told reporters.<br /><br />He hoped that appropriate steps will be taken after ban on onion exports yesterday.<br /><br />"I hope appropriate steps will be taken. Exports have already been banned," he said.<br /><br />Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid expressed inability of the government to check prices at every shop.<br /><br />"Whenever something happens in the market...at every shop the government cannot censor," he said.<br /><br />Yesterday, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had also attributed the spriralling onion prices to hoarding.<br /><br />"Price rise is because of hoarding. There is enough stock of onion in the country," he had said.<br /><br />The price rise could also be partly attributed to damage of crops, particularly in Maharashtra, due to unseasonal rains, but that would contribute only 15-20 per cent rise, officials said.<br /><br />Onion prices have soared to Rs 70-80 per kg in the retail markets in Delhi and many other important cities of the country from Rs 35-40 a couple of days ago.<br /><br />The government had yesterday banned onion exports till January 15 following skyrocketing prices.<br /><br />It had also more than doubled the minimum export price to 1,200 dollars per tonne from 525 dollars per tonne for the contracts already approved by the regulating agency NAFED.<br /><br />In Delhi, NAFED and NCCF (National Consumer Cooperative Federation ) have decided to sell onion at cheaper rates through their retail outlets.</p>
<p>"It is very unfortunate that onion prices have risen very high...Now there is a mismatch between supply from mandi to the consumer point. Those bottlenecks have to be removed and I will talk to concerned ministries," the finance minister told reporters.<br /><br />He hoped that appropriate steps will be taken after ban on onion exports yesterday.<br /><br />"I hope appropriate steps will be taken. Exports have already been banned," he said.<br /><br />Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid expressed inability of the government to check prices at every shop.<br /><br />"Whenever something happens in the market...at every shop the government cannot censor," he said.<br /><br />Yesterday, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had also attributed the spriralling onion prices to hoarding.<br /><br />"Price rise is because of hoarding. There is enough stock of onion in the country," he had said.<br /><br />The price rise could also be partly attributed to damage of crops, particularly in Maharashtra, due to unseasonal rains, but that would contribute only 15-20 per cent rise, officials said.<br /><br />Onion prices have soared to Rs 70-80 per kg in the retail markets in Delhi and many other important cities of the country from Rs 35-40 a couple of days ago.<br /><br />The government had yesterday banned onion exports till January 15 following skyrocketing prices.<br /><br />It had also more than doubled the minimum export price to 1,200 dollars per tonne from 525 dollars per tonne for the contracts already approved by the regulating agency NAFED.<br /><br />In Delhi, NAFED and NCCF (National Consumer Cooperative Federation ) have decided to sell onion at cheaper rates through their retail outlets.</p>