Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed deep concern over the sharp rise in onion prices and said effective steps should be taken to bring down the prices to affordable levels.

In a letter to the secretaries of Departments of Consumer Affairs and Agriculture, the Prime Minister's Office said that Singh expressed deep concern over the "extraordinary price rise".

Onion prices have touched up to Rs 70 a kg across many cities from just half the level till recently, possibly due to supply disruption, but authorities have blamed it on hoarding.

"PM desires that all necessary steps to effectively deal with the extraordinary price rise of onions and bring the prices down to an affordable level," a source said.

Onion prices to come down in 2-3 weeks: Sharad Pawar

Even as it faces the heat of skyrocketing prices of onion which is ruling between Rs 70-80 a kg, the government on Tuesday said any respite to the commoner from the high rates may take 2-3 weeks.

The centre, however, ruled out any immediate plans to import onions to arrest prices even though small consignments arrived from Pakistan.

With wholesale rates at the biggest producing centre, Nashik in Maharashtra crossing over Rs 70, there are fears that the retail selling price in Delhi and elsewhere may edge towards Rs 100 a kg.

"Onion prices will remain high for the next 2-3 weeks and the situation is likely to improve only after two-three weeks," agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told reporters here.

The prices of onions have soared to Rs 60-70 per kg in retail markets in Delhi and many other important cities of the country from Rs 35-40 just a few days ago.

"Because of heavy rains in Nashik area substantial quantity of onion has been damaged. Our expectation is that with the arrival from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the next 2-3 weeks, prices will come down," Pawar said when asked about the reasons for sharp rise in prices.

Onion prices in various agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) in Nashik, the main trading centre for the bulb, have soared to a high of Rs 7,100 per quintal.

This was due to shortfall in production following untimely rains in the growing areas of Maharashtra in November.

Yesterday, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma as well as Nafed managing director Sanjeev Chopra had attributed the sudden rise in onion prices to hoarding and speculations.

Asked whether government will import onion to boost domestic supply, Pawar said: "as of today there is no proposal to import".

Meanwhile, some traders in north India have started importing onions from neighbouring country Pakistan.

As many as 13 truck loads (5 to 15 tonne per truck) of onion have arrived from Pakistan, a senior official of Customs department in Amritsar had said yesterday.

The landed cost of onion from Pakistan stood at Rs 18-20 per kg.

Pawar highlighted the steps taken by the government to control prices such as suspension of exports till January 15 and more than doubling minimum export price of onion to USD 1,200 per tonne from USD 525 per tonne.

"Ban on onion exports should help reduce the prices," he said. .

Meanwhile, Nafed --the regulating agency of onion exports -- and National Consumer Co-operative Federation (NCCF) have started selling onion at Rs 35-40 a kg in the national capital to provide some relief to the common man.

Nafed and NCCF have 25 retail outlets in Delhi.

"We hope the voluntary suspension of exports, raising of minimum export price and retail sales by Nafed and NCCF will definitely have a correction on prices," Chopra said.

Onion production stood at around 12 million tonnes in 2009-10 fiscal, out of which 1.9 million tonnes were exported.

In 2010-11, production in Kharif season is estimated at five million tonnes.

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Govt's pro-market policy to blame for price rise: CPI

Government claims hoarding of produce responsible for food price rise

The UPA government has failed to check the spiralling prices of food items and other essential commodities as it has "totally surrendered" before the market forces, the CPI said today.

"Onion prices have reached extremely high levels in all parts of the country. The prices of all food items have also shown similar increases in the recent past. The price of milk has also been raised, along with the fuel prices," CPI national secretary D Raja said here.

"As the prices go higher and higher, the government stands as a mute spectator, reflecting its helplessness before the market forces. The government has totally surrendered before the market forces," he said.

Observing that both Houses of Parliament had adopted unanimous resolution that the rising prices have had an adverse impact on the people, Raja said the government needs to take action to check the spiralling prices.

"Instead it is making excuses that hoarding is the reason for the high prices of onions. If that is true, then it should have taken action," he said.

"Government should have also informed Parliament about what steps it had taken to check prices, but it did not let the House function by its adamant stand of not accepting the demand for a joint parliamentary committee enquiry into the 2G spectrum scam," the CPI leader added.