Onion buffer stock released for Delhi’s Azadpur to control prices
This is the first time NCCF procured onions as a part of their price stabilisation fund (PSF) to help control the market prices of the vegetable
The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF), one of the central agencies involved in market price stabilisation of food items, will release their buffer stock of onions to the Azadpur mandi from Friday to disrupt the recent trend of increase in onion prices, people aware of the matter said.
Read here: Centre to release onion stocks to tame inflation
This is the first time NCCF procured onions as a part of their price stabilisation fund (PSF) to help control the market prices of the vegetable.
Yogendra Prasad Singh, Regional Director of NCCF, Delhi, said there is a chance onion prices may see a steep increase in the coming months and the NCCF was taking the step to meet the demand. “There has been some unseasonal rain in the states which primarily supply onions due to which a portion of the onions in cold storage have gotten damaged. There is a chance that onion prices increase steeply in the coming months which is why NCCF has decided to get involved,” said Singh.
The move comes even as common households are slowly recovering from the steep rise in the price of tomato, retailing for upwards of ₹200 a kg in most cities. HT reported on August 9 that unlike in tomatoes or most greens, whose elevated prices hit households, in the case of onions, the government maintains nearly 250,000 tonne of reserves, which it releases to markets when supplies bottom out.
Singh added that NCCF will begin providing about two trucks containing a total of 60 metric tonne (approximately 150 crates, each crate containing 25kg) of onions to the Azadpur mandi on Friday.
NCCF has procured 150,000 tonne of onions from Lasalgaon in Nashik, Maharashtra, while the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) has procured another 150,000 tonne of onions from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in the months of June and July.
“The primary aim of this initiative is to stabilise the market price before it starts increasing uncontrollably,” said Singh.
Singh added that the onions released from the buffer stock will be sold at the current market price for now. “In light of the onion prices increasing further, we will start releasing 10 to 15 trucks of onions in the market daily which should support the supply system, thus controlling the wholesale as well as retail prices. But if the retail prices cross ₹50 or ₹60 per kg, we will consider selling onions at subsidised rates,” he added.
NCCF informed that the first two trucks will reach the Azadpur mandi by 6am on Friday while another two trucks containing the same quantity of onions have been ordered for Saturday.
Rajinder Sharma, president of the Onion Traders’ Association, Azadpur, said that the wholesale price of onions on Thursday was ₹20 to ₹28 per kg. “Most of the supplies are coming from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The supply is actually very good at the moment and the prices are probably increasing because of a decrease in supply that has been anticipated in the coming month, owing to damage of stored onions due to untimely rain,” said Sharma.
Read here: Onion prices see a hike of around 40%
Pawan Sharma, a vegetable vendor in Dwarka, said, “The retail prices are between ₹35 and ₹40 per kg, depending on the quality. Onion prices will not get affected like tomatoes because onions have about eight to 10 days of shelf life, but ₹40 is much more than the average price.”