Around 90% of onion imported during Dec-Jan is still rotting at Indian ports as states are not keen on buying, a senior government official with commerce ministry said today.
"Over 36,124 tn onion imported during Dec-Jan, around 32,333 tn is still lying and rotting at Indian ports. States are showing reluctance in buying the inferior quality imported onion," the official said.
The imported onion is not only of substandard quality but also does not match the taste of Indian consumers, the official said.
The government had imported onion after prices spiralled to 150 rupees per kg in key spot markets. Later, prices cooled off with the arrivals of fresh crop in the domestic market, thereby, wiping out the demand for costlier imported onion.
States are not at all interested in purchasing lower quality imported onion and have so far just bought 3,791 tn onion, he said, adding that there would unlikely be buyers for the imported onion in the days to come.
Earlier, the government was exploring possibilities of distributing imported onion under various public welfare schemes but the proposal was turned down as it was not seen feasible, the official said.
Onion prices had risen sharply over the past few months the output was severely hit by excessive rainfall during Sep-Oct in key growing regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
However, supply of onion has steadily increased in the last few weeks with a pick up in the harvesting of the late-kharif crop and early rabi crop.
Currently, onion is sold at 16.5 rupees per kg in key spot markets while the government is offering the imported onion at around 20 rupees per kg, traders said.
