Government has decided to bring onion and potato in the purview of stock holding limits under the Essential Commodities Act. This will empower the states to undertake de-hoarding operations and control prices of onions and potatoes. The stock limit will be fixed by the state governments. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in New Delhi this evening.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad said notification will be issued tomorrow and will remain for in force for a year. He said the centre expects states to take firm and effective measures to enforce stock holding limit on the two items.

Mr. Prasad said the CCEA has also approved additional allocation of 50 lakh tonnes of rice for distribution to Below Poverty Line and Above Poverty Line families.

The Government has further hiked the minimum export price of onion to 500 Dollars per metric tonne to improve domestic supply. A release by Ministry of Commerce and Industries today said, the decision was taken in view of rising retail and wholesale prices and delayed monsoon. A government constituted Inter-Ministerial Committee had unanimously decided to fix the Price of onion at 500 Dollar per Metric Tonne from 300 dollars.