Even in the wholesale vegetable market at Azad Pur, onions were priced between Rs 22 to 24 a kg depending on their quality. Traders in the wholesale vegetable market blamed the current rise on the shortfall in the supply of onions from Haryana and Punjab. ``The rate is quite high even in the mandi so we have to sell it at this price,'' said a vegetable vendor at INA market.

However at the government run Super Bazar, the price of onions is as low as Rs 10 a kg and customers are lining up to buy them. In fact some of the vegetable vendors were buying them in bulk and then selling them at a higher price.

Although Super Bazar officials maintain that they have restricted the sale of onions and are only allowing 2 kg per person, in some branches of Super Bazar one could buy as much as one wanted. Even in the Mother Dairy Food and Vegetable outlets around the Capital the rate of onions stood at Rs 14 per kg. According to market analysts, there seems to be an artificial scarcity being created by traders and onions are being stocked to inflate prices.

Analysts say, that since onions can be stored for a longer period, even those owning small godowns seem to have made bulk purchases and decided to hold on the stock. This has led to a sharp rise in the prices.

Many housewives complained that onions prices were going up every day. ``The onion price goes up by a rupee or so each day. We stay close to the Azadpur mandi but that does not seem to make a difference. We buy them at the same rate as the rest of Delhi,'' said Sheela Raheja, a housewife in Model Town.

Delhi government officials say that the food and civil supplies department had sent vans to various areas to supply onions at a cheaper price.