11 January,2011 07:09 AM IST | | Mid Day Correspondent
To be available at 40 select outlets across Delhi from today against the retail price of Rs 60-65 per kilogram
It isn't back to the good old days yet, but if the government manages to keep its promise your salad platter should look more appetising from today.
Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf said yesterday the Central Government has given subsidy to National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) to supply onion to Delhi at reasonable rates and it will be sold at the select outlets at Rs 35 per kg from Tuesday.
"The Centre has given 20 per cent subsidy to Nafed to supply onion at reasonable rate to Delhi and it will be made available at Rs 35 per kg at Mother Dairy, NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India) and Kendriya Bhandar stores from tomorrow," he said.
To provide relief to people reeling under skyrocketing prices of onion, Delhi government had on December 23 begun selling the commodity at over 400 outlets across the city at Rs 40 per kg against the then market price of Rs 60-70. But later Mother Dairy had increased the price to Rs 50 per kg following the rise in wholesale price.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, when asked about high prices of onion, hoped that the rate will come down substantially within next one or two days. "We hope that the price will come down substantially within next one or two days," Dikshit said.
Yusuf said following rise in price the consumption of onion has come down to below 300 metric tonnes per day against an average daily consumption of 350-400 metric tonne.
He said government has been carrying out raids across the city to ensure that hoarding and black marketing of the commodity do not take place. "We will come down very hard against the hoarders and black-marketeers. We will prosecute them as per provision of relevant Act," he said.
