Onion shortage in Khatunganj
A crisis is brewing
Chaktai-Khatunganj – one of the largest wholesale markets in the country – has seen a shortage of onion.
On Thursday, different storehouses of Khatunganj were selling onion at Tk140 to Tk160 on average.
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As India has stopped its onion export, its price has continued to soar, said wholesalers, adding that a crisis is brewing.
Balai Kumar Poddar, a proprietor of Grameen Grameen Banijjalay in Khatunganj, said, "After India's export ban, onion import has been far less than the demand."
General secretary of Khatunganj Hamid Ullah Market's Traders' Welfare Association, Md Idris has said that the price of onions could get even higher at the retail market.
Talking to the Business Standard, Hamid said, "Every day we see 200 to 250 trucks, carrying onions, enter the market, but today there have only been 15 to 20 trucks."
"Myanmar and Egypt are now being considered an alternative source of import. That may not be enough. If India does not lift its export ban, there is little chance of onion price fall."
There is a daily demand of 2.5 lakh tonnes of onions at the Chaktai-Khatunganj wholesale market.
Around 50 business organisations import onion to this market which is sold to places across the country at a wholesale price.
