Govt sells 36,250 ton buffer onion in mandis of 12 states in last 3 weeks

The government on Monday said 36,250-tonne onion from its buffer stock has been released in the wholesale markets in 12-odd states and Union territories at prevailing rates in the last three weeks to arrest rising retail prices of the key kitchen staple.

National Cooperative Consumer's Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) have been mandated to sell buffer onion in wholesale and retail markets. They have also been asked to procure additional onion from farmers to increase the buffer stock quantities from the current 3 lakh tonne to 5 lakh tonne this year.

Speaking to PTI, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said: "The government will go all out to ensure no undue rise in prices by following a two-pronged approach of releasing our buffer stock onion in the wholesale and retail markets".

Since August 11, a total of 35,250 tonne of buffer onion has been released in the wholesale markets. Out of which NCCF has disposed of 21,750 tonne in 12 states and Union territories (UTs), he added.

These 12 states and UTs include Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Kerala, he said.

NAFED has disposed of 14,500 tonne of buffer onion in the wholesale markets located in cities like Azadpur (Delhi), Chandigarh, Ambala (Haryana); Amritsar, Ludhiana, Bhatinda, and Jalandhar (Punjab), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Tadepalli (Andhra Pradesh) and Thrissur (Kerala).

The onion from the buffer stock is being released in the wholesale markets at prevailing rates, while in the retail markets at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg.

The secretary said these two cooperatives will scale up retail sales of buffer onion through mobile vans in Delhi and select places in the coming days.

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Ashwini Kumar Choubey will launch NCCF's mobile van for sale of onion at a subsidised rate on September 6.

Meanwhile, NCCF and NAFED have started procurement of an additional 2 lakh tonne of buffer onion. Since August 22, about 24,000 tonne of onion has been purchased directly from the farmers. Out of which, NCCF has purchased 14,000 tonne, while NAFED about 10,000 tonne.

As per the official data, India's average retail price of onion was ruling at Rs 33.41 per kg on Monday, up 37 per cent from Rs 24.37 per kg in the year-ago period.

Onion was available at Rs 39/kg in Kolkata, Rs 37/kg in Delhi, at Rs 31/kg each in Mumbai and Chennai on Monday.