Onion hubs were raided across the country today and officials claimed prices tumbled Rs 5-10 as a result of the income-tax department’s action a day after the Centre urged states to counter hoarding. Calcutta’s Sealdah wholesale mart and Asansol were among the places in Bengal that saw the swoops. Similar action was seen in several towns in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had written to...

With the prices of most of the vegetables soaring, the Income Tax sleuths on Friday carried out massive raids on the offices and godowns of the wholesale traders in onion and garlic in major cities and towns of Gujarat. The outcome of the raids that started in the morning was not immediately known, but informed sources said the idea was to check whether the wholesalers were unduly holding stocks to take...

In a move that brings relief to the rural workforce, but risks creating an inflation spiral, the government on Thursday revised the minimum wages paid for its flagship job guarantee scheme by linking them to the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL) for each individual state. Such a price spiral, in case it actually emerges, could roil the electoral prospects of the Congress in the key contests to the state...

Top economic advisor in the finance ministry on Wednesday blamed cartels among traders for the skyrocketing prices of onion. “There are forms of implicit cartels working among the traders that block the movement of new entry, the appearance of new players,” chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu said while explaining the reasons behind the onion price rise. The price of the vegetable, which is ruling at Rs 60 per kg, went up...

Wholesale food inflation saw a sharp increase to 18.32 per cent for the week ended December 25, primarily due to a steep rise in Onion Prices. The inflation rate is a 23-week high, much above the expectations of analysts and policymakers. Food inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), was at 14.44 per cent for the previous week ended December 18 and at 19.9 per cent in the corresponding...