I-T survey at onion traders’ offices across Maharashtra

In a sudden move the income tax department carried out survey at the offices of the prominent traders of onions across the state.

Highly placed sources in the Pune income tax department told DNA that surveys are being conducted at prominent traders at Nashik, Pune, Mumbai and few other cities of the state.

The exercise comes at a juncture when onion prices shot up drastically across the country making things extremely difficult for the common people. In Pune market the commodity is being sold at about Rs55 per kilogram.

“There was a feedback that some of the prominent onion traders across the state have formed a cartel and resorting to hoarding to jack up the prices of the commodity. And hence the department decided to carry out the extensive survey across the state,” IT officials said. It was learnt that the books of accounts of the traders are being scrutinised to verify the stock position of the commodity that these traders are having at present.

Since the survey is still on, IT officials refused to point out whether they had noted any discrepancies or not.

At Nashik the survey was carried out at the offices of some of the traders in Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon Baswant, the largest wholesale onion markets in Asia.

According to some of the traders IT department officials surveyed the premises of the traders whose business are the largest in the region.

About two IT department officials in two groups conducted surveys checking, stocks, sale, purchase and supply of onion from them.
They also reviewed the computer data and accounts of these traders, it is understood.

Nashik guardian minister Chagan Bhujbal, who was in Nashik for the District Development and Planning Committee meeting, remarked that the onion shortage was not due to hoarding.

“It is a fact that the unseasonal rains have damaged the onion crops and this has led to shortage of supply in the market. The situation is more about demand and supply imbalance,” he remarked.