TCB Selling Onion at Tk 23

People are sighing relief as the price of onion has dropped with the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) offering the item at Tk 23 per kg through e-commerce companies. 

Consumers can now buy as much onion as they want instead of 3 kg per person from online shops. They can be bought for Tk 23 a kg, down from Tk 36.

Eighteen e-commerce companies are selling onion in Dhaka, Chattogram, Tangail, Rajshahi and Sirjganj, reports UNB.

Apart from selling onion, more items will be sold online by the government's trading arm.

Prices of famous kitchen products went through the roof after India banned onion exports on 14 September this year, prompting Bangladesh to import them from different countries to meet demand.

Bangladesh’s annual demand for the popular kitchen item ranges between 2.2 and 2.5 million tonnes. Commerce Ministry figures show the amount imported was hardly 0.4 million tonnes in FY09, but had touched up to 1.1 million tonnes in recent years.

The government initiative helped cool down the prices. Onion prices have been falling over the past few weeks.

On Sept 16, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told the media that the country has a stock of 600,000 tonnes of onion and asked the people not to panic.

Mohammad Abdul Wahed Tomal, general secretary of e-cab, said there is adequate stock of onion now which is the reason behind the price fall.

Read Also: Price volatility of onion: What‘s govt response to deal with it?

Jahangir Alam Shobhon, general manager of e-cab, said currently 10,000 metric tonnes of onion is being sold through online shops and the authorities concerned are making it easier to bring the onion to the doorsteps of consumers. People can purchase their daily grocery items easily from home.

Currently, onions are available at different sites including including www.chaldal.com, www.shwapno.com, www.sindabad.com, www.sobjibazaar.com, www.jachai.com, www.mimgrocery.com, www.shwapno.com,

www.meenaclick.com, www.kgClick.com, www.formosa.express, www.foodpanda.com.bd,  www.qcoom.com

www.grameenfriends.com, www.www.bairan.com.bd

On September 20, Tipu Munshi inaugurated a programme titled ‘Onion at Home’ as the chief guest over Zoom, offering people the item at Tk 36 per kg.

The government took this initiative to curb the rise in onion prices and to allow middle-class buyers to buy onions online.

People will be able to buy onion through selected online retailers.