Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said he would not be able to say when the onion prices would ease as rains have hit supplies from key growing states.

With the Delhi government selling onions between Rs 50-55 a kg at over 1,000 points across the city, the BJP went a step further on Sunday, selling the kitchen staple at Rs 25 a kg against the market rate of around Rs 80.

A drought last year and heavy rainfall this year have sent onion prices soaring and wholesalers say that situation is unlikely to improve soon.

Wholesale onion prices have shot up by 40 per cent in the last three days to Rs 46 a kg at Lasalgaon market in Nashik, the highest in the last two-and-a- half years, and the spurt could further push up the already high retail rate of Rs 60 per kg in the national capital.

The Reserve Bank of India governor may have been successful in bringing down wholesale price inflation to less than 5 per cent, but in the process put growth on the line - it plunged to a decade low of 5 per cent in FY13.

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Inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, moved up to 7.55 per cent in May versus 7.23 per cent in April, driven by spurt in prices of potato, pulses and wheat.

Food inflation falls to a nearly four-year low of 1.81 per cent for the week ended December 10 as prices of essential items like vegetables, onion, potato and wheat declined.

Prices of most vegetables have increased by around 20-30 per cent since the last month. Retail prices of vegetables such as tomatoes, onion, potato and others have risen significantly.

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With prices of onion showing a rising trend, the government has directed cooperatives - Nafed and NCCF - to sell the kitchen staple at a subsidised rate of Rs 20 per kg from their outlets in the national capital.

This is the first time food inflation entered the double-digit mark since the week ended March 12, when it was at the same figure of 10.05 per cent.

Annual food inflation in early March eased from 9.52 per cent recorded in the previous week as prices of onions and milk fell, while fuel inflation accelerated.

With medical costs rising and growing at over 10 per cent for four years in a row, the burden of healthcare has become increasingly heavy on the middle class.

Apparel exporters have sought the government's intervention to control a sudden spurt in the prices of cotton and cotton yarn.

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In its review of the economy released on Monday, the RBI warned that India is likely to \"import\" inflation as global commodity prices surge, adding to the food prices-led domestic price spiral.

Although food inflation fell by 1.39 per cent from 16.91 per cent in the previous week, vegetable prices were 65.39 per cent costlier than the same week last year.