Sale of onion is going on from today, government will sell it for 25 rupees

There is a continuous increase in the prices of onions. According to Consumer Affairs data, the all-India average retail price was up 19 per cent at Rs 29.73 per kg, as against Rs 25 per kg in the year-ago period.

For the past few days, along with different parts of the country, the people of Delhi NCR had started crying due to onion prices. On Saturday and Sunday, onion prices were seen at Rs 50 and above in different areas of Delhi itself. Now, taking a lesson from tomato prices, the government has immediately taken onion prices into its own hands. Today i.e. from Monday, the government is going to set up onion sales at government outlets. Where onion prices will be Rs 25 per kg. In fact, after achieving the initial procurement target of three lakh metric tonnes, the government has increased the onion buffer to five lakh metric tonnes this year.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has also directed the National Cooperative Consumer Federation (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed) to procure about one lakh metric tonnes of onions to meet the additional procurement target. Along with procurement, both the bodies will retail onions at Rs 25 per kg through NCCF outlets and mobile vans from August 21, 2023.

Started preparing buffer stock

Giving information, the government said that in the coming days, the retail sale of onions will be increased appropriately by involving other agencies and e-commerce platforms. Early last week, amid rising onion prices in some parts of India, the central government started releasing onions from its buffer stock. According to the new information given by the government, the disposal of onion has started from the buffer by targeting major markets, states and union territories.

Targeted markets are those where the retail prices are above the all India average and/or are significantly higher than the previous month. According to the government, about 1,400 metric tonnes of onions have been dispatched from the buffer to the targeted markets and are being released continuously to increase availability.

Onion prices had increased in government figures

According to official data, the all-India average retail price of onion rose by 19 per cent to Rs 29.73 per kg on Sunday, as against Rs 25 per kg in the year-ago period. In Delhi, the retail price of onion has increased from Rs 28 per kg to Rs 37 per kg in the said period.

A buffer stock is maintained under the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to meet any contingencies if the rates increase significantly during the lean season. The government had maintained a buffer onion of 2.51 lakh tonnes during the financial year 2022-23.