Panaji, Nov 10 (IANS): The varying rates of onions sold in Goa's markets, ration shops and a government corporation has attracted the ire of the opposition, which on Tuesday alleged the hand of an 'onion mafia' in the distribution of the vegetable in the state.

Currently, onions are being sold at Rs 88 per kg (approx.) in the general market, ration shops are selling at Rs 32 per kg and the Horticulture Corporation at Rs 55 to Rs 66.

Amid the accusations, a top state official of the Horticulture Corporation admitted that the corporation could not sell onion at the rates of the ration shops, but denied the existence of any mafia.

Pravin Zantye, chairman of the government body, which was set up two decades ago to supply vegetables and fruits at below market prices, also said that his Corporation had continued to sell onions at prices lower by Rs 15 to Rs 20, well below the current market price for onions.

"The prices of onions have increased nationwide because of heavy rains and a poor crop. NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation) buys onions in large quantities and supplies them to governments during crises. The onions which are sold in Goa's ration shops are cheaper because they are supplied by NAFED," Zantye said.

"We have contracts with suppliers who sell us produce, including onions, at rates which are still cheaper than market prices. But we cannot match up with the prices at which onions are sourced in bulk from NAFED and are sold at ration shops," Zantye said.

Zantye said that while market prices of onions have reached Rs 88 per kg (approx.), the Corporation was selling onion in the range of Rs 55 to Rs 66, depending on daily availability.

Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Goa Forward have been alleging that an onion mafia was at play in Goa, citing the varying prices of onions sold by the two government agencies -- ration shops, which function under the aegis of the Civil Supplies Department, and the Goa State Horticulture Corporation, which functions as part of the Agriculture Department.

"How can two state government agencies supply onions at different rates," Goa Forward women's wing president Ashma Sayed had said.

Goa Mahila Congress president Pratima Coutinho had also alleged that an "onion mafia" was at play in Goa, which was manipulating onion rates. "Onions are being hoarded by an onion mafia, which is why the rates appear to be differing," Coutinho said. In a token protest Coutinho's women's wing had also sold onions at Rs 25 kg per at South Goa's Margao town last week.

After prices of onions escalated, following a prolonged Monsoon season last month, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had announced the sale of onions through ration shops in Goa at the cost of Rs 32 per kg. The state Civil Supplies Department has placed an order for 1,045 metric tons of onions from NAFED's cold storage warehouses in Maharashtra's Nashik town.