India, May 22 -- Fuel scarcity due to the ongoing conflict in west Asia has hit Lasalgaon - the country's largest onion wholesale market - hard, with transportation of the famed 'Nashik Red' or 'Niphad Red' and other varieties coming to a halt due to unavailability of trucks.

Usually, about 50 onion-laden trucks are dispatched daily from Lasalgaon, located around 56 km from Nashik, traders said. With transport at a standstill, traders were considering abstaining from onion auctions fearing heavy financial losses, they said.

The Lasalgaon Merchants Association (LMA) has written to the APMC, demanding immediate resolution of the issue and warning of a traders' boycott of daily auctions starting May 25.

The effect of fuel shortage was bei...