Kathmandu, January 2

Along with supply easing from India, the price of onion has started declining in recent days.

The price of onion, which reached almost Rs 140 per kilogram in the retail market after Indian government imposed minimum export price (MEP) on the vegetable in November end, has come down to Rs 75 per kg with eased Indian supplies.

As production of onion is lean in the country, Nepal relies on India for over 90 per cent of domestic demand. Consequently, price of onion and any change in policy related to the vegetable in India has a direct effect on the price of onion in Nepal.

“The domestic market has been receiving regular supply of onion since past few days. We are expecting onion price to normalise in a week,” said Nabin Shahi, a vegetable trader at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market.

According to him, Kalimati market has been receiving almost 15 trucks of Indian onions regularly at present against 20 trucks of the vegetable that Kalimati market normally used to receive.

In a bid to maintain supply in its domestic market and keep prices under check, Indian government announced it was imposing MEP of $850 per tonne on onions till December 31, barring Indian traders from exporting onions below the given rate. That decision had significantly reduced onion supply to Nepal.