In order to help customers, the Center Friday decided to increase the sale of buffer onions at a subsidized cost of Rs 25 per kg in retail shops. This comes as the average retail price of onions in India has increased by 57% to Rs 47 per kg.
According to statistics kept by the ministry of consumer affairs, the average retail price of onions throughout all of India increased to Rs 47 per kg on Friday from Rs 30 per kg during the same time last year.
According to the report, the retail price of onions in the national capital was Rs 40/kg on Friday, compared to Rs 30/kg a year earlier.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI, “We have been offloading buffer onions since mid-August and we are stepping up the retail sale in order to check further rise in prices and provide relief to the consumers.”
In areas where prices have sharply increased, the ministry reports that onions are being offloaded from the buffer stock in both the wholesale and retail sectors. Approximately 1.7 lakh tonnes of buffer onions have been offloaded at various places across 22 states since mid-August.
Buffer onions are offloaded from retail markets by trucks and the outlets of two cooperative entities, NCCF and NAFED, at a reduced cost of Rs 25 per kg. Buffer onions are also available in Delhi at this discounted price.
According to a senior ministry official, the weather-related postponement of the kharif onion seeding has caused the crop to arrive later and get less covering.
By now, the new kharif onions ought to have begun to arrive, but they haven’t. The official said that there is a tight supply scenario that is leading to price increases in both the wholesale and retail sectors since the supply of stored rabi onions is running out and the arrival of kharif onions is delayed.
The government has quadrupled the buffer supply of onions for the current year, he said, so domestic availability should improve and pricing should be monitored in the coming days.
The consumer affairs ministry, along with NCCF and NAFED, has kept a buffer stock of 5 lakh tonnes of onions for the 2023–24 fiscal year. They also have plans to purchase an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onions in the near future.
