But Food and Civil Supplies Minister Poornima Sethi said she has no idea; chief minister Sushma Swaraj is reluctant to elaborate; and the bureaucrats who probably okayed the deal can't recollect the name.

Sources said the firm which has offices in Iran was chosen because onion has been placed under the Open General License (OGL) category, allowing anyone to import the vegetable.

Express Newsline queries in the past two days, nevertheless, revealed that the choice of the ``private party'' was left to the discretion of ``a couple of persons''.

And five days after Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj announced her decision to import Iranian onion, most of the bureaucrats are still vague about the details.

The government is buying the onion through the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation which is headed by Krishnalekha Sood. But even Sood can't ``remember'' the name of the firm. ``I think it is based in Iran, and has offices in Delhi,'' he said.

The minister said the government invited bids from several firms and this ``private party'' quoted the lowest rate (Rs 30), while the rest asked for Rs 40 per kg. ``Why don't you ask my MD,'' she said. The MD could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Poornima Sethi's position on the issue is, however, most surprising because onion is the hottest issue in her ministry. ``I am standing in knee-deep water in Okhla now,'' she said over her cellphone last night. ``In fact, I have been so busy with flood relief work over the past two days that I haven't had time to update myself on the onion front.

Today, she said 16.5 tonne of onion has reached IGI airport, and another 40 tonne is expected late in the evening. But she still does not know the identity of the firm.

Neither is she sure whether the Delhi Government will be buying the consignment at Rs 30 per kg. ``It could be a little more or even less, I should be able to give you more details tomorrow,'' she said.

Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj, on the other hand, today announced that 50 tonne of Iranian onion reached Delhi yesterday. And by tomorrow 400 tonne of the 750-tonne consignment would be deposited in government godowns.

The Delhi Government is buying the consignment at Rs 30 per kg, and will sell it at Rs 10 through subsidies counters, she said.