India scraps tax on onions as prices soar

The Indian government, facing mounting public anger over soaring onion costs, on Wednesday scrapped tax on imports of the vegetable to try to rein in prices of the staple food.
The move comes after Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh expressed "deep concern" over the cost of onions doubling and called for steps to lower the price of what is a basic item on every Indian family's shopping list.
Onions are selling for 80 rupees a kilogram (88 cents a pound) -- turning the vegetable into an unaffordable luxury for India's poor -- having rocketed from 35 rupees in a few days and stories about the rise are front-page news.
The Congress government is mindful that costly onions have a history of political fallout with voters in 1998 ousting the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi state polls after a sharp surge in onion prices.