New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS): To provide relief to the people, the Delhi government on Wednesday decided to slash onion prices by Rs.10 per kg and will now sell it at Rs.30 per kg, Food and Supply Minister Asim Ahmed Khan said.

"We have decided to sell best quality onion at Rs.30 per kg instead of Rs.40 at our 280 fair price shops in the national capital. New rates of the onion will become effective from today (Wednesday) itself," Khan said.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Khan said the government procured onion from Nasik through Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium at a cost of Rs.40 kg (including transportation and procurement costs) and would sell it at a subsidised rate of Rs.30 a kg.

"We want to provide best quality onion to the people of Delhi at cheaper rates. We have enough stock of onion to sell it at subsidised rates," he said.

When asked about further slashing the rates of onion, minister said: "A regular monitoring of the trend of the onion market will be done. We will keep a watch on the volatility of onion rates in open market and then take any decision accordingly."

Earlier to curb onion prices, the city government had announced to sell onions across the city at Rs.40 a kg. The selling began from Wednesday morning at Rs.40 per kg at the 280 fair price shops in the capital.