Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister for Marketing Abdul Sattar on Friday appealed to traders to start onion trade stating that the government is ready to purchase Rs400 crore worth of onion.
The traders, who didn't appear much enthusiastic about the development, however, said that they shall decide about it at their meeting at Pimpalgaon in Nashik district on Saturday.
Meanwhile, at Vinchur APMC in Nashik district, the traders resumed onion purchase on Friday indicating that the traders might not be able to sustain their strike for long. The mean rate throughout the day at Vinchur remained at Rs2,100 per quintal.
Sattar's Delhi meet
Sattar made the appeal to the traders after a meeting held at Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and officials from various Union government departments concerned.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday had assured onion traders of an amicable solution to their problems when he held two meetings with the traders and Goyal in Mumbai. As discussed in the meeting, today's meeting was organised, where the government agencies asserted that they are ready to purchase Rs400 crore worth of Onion at Rs2290 per quintal.
As per the decisions made in today's meeting, new procurement centres will be started and in all such parts where onion is still in stores, the procurement will be started immediately.
The traders have been demanding doing away with the 40% export duty on onion. The high powered committee of the Union government shall take a decision regarding this very soon, Sattar said.
Union minister Bharti Pawar, who also hails from Nashik district, too was present at the meeting and said that the Union government makes decisions taking into consideration the best interests of 140 crore people of India.
President of Lasalgaon Onion Traders' Association, Manoj Jain, however, said that the meeting at Delhi failed to arrive at a decision that they were expecting and that the traders from the district shall meet at Pimpalgaon Baswant on Saturday to decide on future course of action.
Pointers:
* At Vinchur APMC in Nashik, traders resume onion purchase on Friday
* The mean rate throughout the day at Vinchur remained at Rs2,100 per quintalNew procurement centres will be started and in all such parts where onion is still in stores, the procurement will be started immediately
