Sharad Pawar denies query from PM on onion

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has rejected reports saying that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought his explanations on the rising prices of onions.

Pawar said Saturday that he was not aware if at all the PM had sought his explanation regarding skyrocketing of onion prices, which has now come down to Rs 50 a kilo in retail from Rs 80/90.

Pawar said this to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of ?Coop Core ? 2010,? seminar here.

Earlier this week Pawar said the current prices of onions would stay for about three weeks due to poor output in the onion producing states like Maharastra following heavy rains in the monsoon.

But Commerce Minister Anand Sharma believed that hoarding of the commodity was responsible for high price after creating an artificial scarcity.

Pawar said he had only read in the newspapers that PM had wrote him a letter seeking his explanations. ?Till date, I have not received any such letter.?

Pawar said the rise in price of onions was only temporary and it should start coming down to the normal level once the new crops arrived from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the next few days.

Pawar also declined to comment on the rise in tomato prices, saying he could not answer on each vegetable separately.

The Government has been forced to lift customs duty on import of onions after it decreed ban on export of the commodity for indefinite period.