Jamshedpur: Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) today said there was no shortage of onions and potatoes in the district.
The outfit members said the allegations of hoarding of onions and potatoes by several city traders were false and unfounded. They said the administration and the people should not pay attention to such �rumours�.
�Concerned about the rising prices and allegations of being hoarders, the Chamber has swung into action. We first apprised the district administration officials of the negative impact of any enforcement attitude and assured them of all cooperation. A series of meetings are being held by traders in this regard. As a part of this attempt, the SCCI went to the Agricultural Product Marketing Committee�s market yard at Parsudih,� said Suresh Sonthalia, Chamber president.
Sonthalia iterated that there was no shortage of onions and potatoes in the city. �It is more of a negative publicity on a regular basis. There is a huge difference of retail and wholesale prices. As an immediate solution, it was decided to open “Suvidha Centres” by wholesale merchants to offer these items at wholesale prices.
That any effort to put a bar on stocks will have a negative impact on prices, as supplies will be held back. Prices have gone up due to seasonal factors and huge rise in the cost of transportation, rather than being the result of any trading manipulation.
Wholesale prices will be made available to the district administration and to the people through the media on a regular basis, so that they can bargain for themselves,� he said.
Sonthalia said today�s wholesale price of onion is Rs 22 to Rs 24 per kilogram while for potato the price is Rs 13.50 to Rs 16 per kilogram.
