<p>Barely a month after amending the Essential Commodities Act, the Centre on Friday imposed stock limits on onions in a bid to arrest the rising prices. </p>.<p>Wholesalers have been allowed to stock up to 25 tonnes of onions, while the limit for retailers has been capped at two tonnes, thus enabling release of onions to the market as prices of the key ingredient in large number of Indian kitchens crossed Rs 80 per kg.</p>.<p>The revised stock limit norms will be in force till December 31st. These restrictions are not applicable to imported onions.</p>.<p>The order to impose stock limits invoking the Essential Commodities Act, came barely a month after the Parliament put its seal on the amendments to allow the government to lean on to the Act only under extraordinary circumstances such a war or famine.</p>.<p>“The Narendra Modi government has taken immediate steps to control the rising prices of onions and curb hoarding,” Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said.</p>.<p>The sudden rise in onion prices is attributed to the loss of crop due to unseasonal rains in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka.</p>.<p>According to the government estimates, the production of kharif onions was pegged at 43 lakh tonnes, but had to be revised to 36 lakh tonnes.</p>.<p>The government has also released onions from its buffer stock of one lakh tonnes to cool down the rising prices.</p>.<p>Earlier, the government had also relaxed the import norms for onions and asked Indian missions in onion producing countries to facilitate shipments of the bulb to India.</p>
<p>Barely a month after amending the Essential Commodities Act, the Centre on Friday imposed stock limits on onions in a bid to arrest the rising prices. </p>.<p>Wholesalers have been allowed to stock up to 25 tonnes of onions, while the limit for retailers has been capped at two tonnes, thus enabling release of onions to the market as prices of the key ingredient in large number of Indian kitchens crossed Rs 80 per kg.</p>.<p>The revised stock limit norms will be in force till December 31st. These restrictions are not applicable to imported onions.</p>.<p>The order to impose stock limits invoking the Essential Commodities Act, came barely a month after the Parliament put its seal on the amendments to allow the government to lean on to the Act only under extraordinary circumstances such a war or famine.</p>.<p>“The Narendra Modi government has taken immediate steps to control the rising prices of onions and curb hoarding,” Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said.</p>.<p>The sudden rise in onion prices is attributed to the loss of crop due to unseasonal rains in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka.</p>.<p>According to the government estimates, the production of kharif onions was pegged at 43 lakh tonnes, but had to be revised to 36 lakh tonnes.</p>.<p>The government has also released onions from its buffer stock of one lakh tonnes to cool down the rising prices.</p>.<p>Earlier, the government had also relaxed the import norms for onions and asked Indian missions in onion producing countries to facilitate shipments of the bulb to India.</p>
