Amid price hike, centre offloads onions from reserves to stabilize market, plans subsidized sales at ₹35/kg

The central government has escalated its efforts to control onion prices by increasing the sale of reserve stock in the wholesale markets after a surge in the retail price of the crop amid the removal of export duty, news agency PTI reported on Monday, September 23.

The centre has started offloading onions from its reserve or buffer stock in the wholesale markets of Delhi and other major cities and has plans to expand the subsidised retail sales around the nation, Nidhi Khare, Secretary of Consumer Affairs, told PTI.

“We anticipated a price surge after lifting the export duty. With our 4.7 lakh tonne buffer stock and increased kharif sowing area, we expect to keep onion prices in check,” Khare said.

The government plans to increase the retail sales of onions at a subsidised rate of ₹35 per kg across the nation, especially in cities where the prices exceed the country average.

According to official data, retail prices of onions in Delhi were at ₹55 per kg on September 22, a high compared to ₹38 per kg a year ago. According to the report, onion prices in Mumbai and Chennai have reached ₹58 and ₹60 per kg, respectively.

Government selling onions at ₹35

The government has been selling onions at ₹35 per kg through its mobile vans and outlets of the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) in Delhi and other state capitals, since September 5, 2024, the report said.

Khare showed optimism about the upcoming Kharif onion crop, citing the higher acreage of land compared to the previous year. “Arrivals will begin next month, and we foresee no production concerns,” she said.

The secretary addressed other commodity prices, like the rise in the price of edible oils after a recent import duty hike. She explained that the move was to protect domestic farmers.

According to the report, Khare said the government will monitor trends in tomato production and intervene if necessary, apart from edible oil. The production of tur and urad looks promising, and the hike in imports of pulses is fueling an expectation of stable prices of pulses in the coming months. 

The government removed the $550 per tonne minimum export price (MEP) on onions nearly ten days ago while raising the import duty on crude palm oil to 20 per cent and on refined sunflower oil to 32.5 per cent to support the domestic oilseed farmers and processors.