Onions on sale in Delhi: Amid signs of increasing prices, the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) on behalf of the Central government will sell onions at the subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg in the national capital from Monday to give relief to consumers from high prices of the kitchen staple. NCCF is already selling tomatoes on behalf of the central government at a subsidised rate.
"To begin with, we will start retailing buffer onions in Delhi. We will sell at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg through our mobile vans and two retail outlets," NCCF Managing Director Anice Joseph Chandra told PTI.
NCCF plans to sell onion online via ONDC platform
She said that on Monday, approximately 10 mobile vans are set to be deployed in the national capital, and their coverage will gradually expand to encompass more areas. Additionally, the NCCF intends to sell the product through its two retail outlets situated at Nehru Place and Okhla within the national capital.
NCCF also plans to sell onion online via ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) platform and it is working out modalities, she added.
The government has singled out Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Assam for market intervention. In these five states, the supply of buffer onions is being increased by distributing them in both wholesale and retail markets.
Chandra mentioned that in wholesale markets, buffer onions are being sold at the mandi rate, while in retail markets, they are available at a subsidized price of Rs 25 per kilogram. Retail sales will initiate in Delhi starting Monday, and in the other four states, they are scheduled to commence after two days.
Govt to procure 2 lakh tn of onion
The Central government on Sunday announced it will procure an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion in order to maintain a total buffer stock of 5 lakh tonnes this year and use that for retail intervention.
For the current 2023-24 fiscal, the target for onion buffer was kept at 3 lakh tonnes, which has already been procured. Currently, the same buffer stock is being disposed of in the targeted markets in select states to improve the local availability and check price rise.
The government has created a buffer stock of 3 lakh tonnes of onion for the 2023-24 fiscal. It has also decided to procure additional 2 lakh tonne onion for the buffer this year.
As per the official data, the all-India average retail price of onion has increased by 19 per cent to Rs 29.73 per kg on Sunday, from Rs 25 per kg in the year-ago period. In Delhi, the retail price of onion has increased to Rs 37 per kg from Rs 28 per kg in the same period.
The Centre also imposed a 40 per cent duty on the export of onions to check price rise and improve supplies in the domestic market. The export duty, which is the first time ever on onion, has been imposed as the retail sale price of the kitchen staple, according to government data, touched Rs 37/kg on Saturday in Delhi.
(With PTI inputs)
Also Read: Govt imposes 40 per cent duty on onion exports till December 31
Also Read: Tomatoes to be sold at Rs 70 per kg in Delhi-NCR: Nirmala Sitharaman
