In order to protect consumers from the recent increase in onion prices, the government has initiated aggressive retail sale of onion at a subsidised price of Rs 25 per kg, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a statement on Saturday. Onion prices have seen a spike recently due to a delay in the arrival of the kharif crop.
“The Department of Consumer Affairs has started aggressive disposal of onion through retail outlets and mobile vans operated by NCCF, NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and other state-controlled cooperatives at a subsidised price of Rs 25 per kg,” the ministry said in the statement.
The move comes as another measure in addition to the slew of measures to improve the domestic availability of onion, including the imposition of a minimum export price (MEP) of $800 per MT, enhancement of buffer procurement by 2 lakh tonnes, over 5.06 lakh tonnes already procured, and the continuous disposal of onion through retail sales, e-Nam auction and bulk sales in wholesale markets since the second week of August.
For the retail sale of subsidised onions, NAFED till November 2 set up 329 retail points, consisting of stationary outlets and mobile vans, in 55 cities across 21 states, according to the statement.
Similarly, NCCF has set up 457 retail points in 54 cities across 20 states. Kendriya Bhandar has also started a retail supply of onion through its retail outlets across Delhi-NCR from November 3, 2023, and the Safal Mother Dairy will start this weekend.
“The retail sale of onion to consumers in Telangana and other southern states are being taken up by Hyderabad Agricultural Cooperatives Association (HACA),” it said.
The government maintains onion buffer by procuring rabi onion for subsequent calibrated and targeted release, to control the seasonal price volatility between rabi and kharif crops. This year, the buffer size has been raised to 7 LMT from 2.5 LMT in 2022-23. Till date, 5.06 LMT of onion has been procured and the procurement of the balance 2 LMT is in progress.
“The proactive measures taken by the government has started showing results as onion prices in benchmark Lasalgaon market declined from Rs 4,800/qtl on 28.10.2023 to Rs 3,650/qtl on 03.11.2023, a decline of 24 per cent,” the ministry said.
Retail prices are expected to show a similar decline in the coming week, it added.
The government also sold tomatoes at subsidised rates in June this year, when its prices shot up due to volatile rains. Through retail intervention, tomato retail prices were brought down from the peak, all-India average retail price of Rs.140 per kg during the first week of August to around Rs.40 per kg by the first week of September 2023.
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