A R DAS / NEW DELHI
Union Minister for Consumers Affairs and Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal today said that the government was taking every step to protect the interest of onion-producing farmers. He said efforts have also been made to reduce the rising prices of onion to protect the customers.
Briefing media here, Mr. Goyal said, three lakh metric tonnes of onion have been procured so far and the process for procurement of additional two lakh metric tonnes has already started. He said, additional two lakh metric tonnes will be procured further, if the requirement will arise in the coming days. He said, the procurement of onion is being made at a price of two thousand 410 rupees per quintal. The Minister urged the farmers to sell their produce at this price.
The Minister said, onions are being made available to retail consumers at a subsidized rate of 25 rupees per kilograms through retail outlets and mobile vans of NCCF. He said, interventions made by the government helped in the reduction of tomato prices in the country.
In a tweet, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadanvis said that special purchase centres are going to be set up at Nashik and Ahmednagar for the benefit of onion cultivators of Maharashtra.
In the tweet, Mr. Fadanvis informed that onions will be purchased at Rs 2,410 per quintal. He added that this will be huge relief for the onion growers of our state.
Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde met Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today morning and discussed the issues regarding onion prices.