The central government increased the sale of onion from 'buffer stock' to control its prices

New Delhi, September 23 (HS). The central government has recently removed the duty on onion exports and in view of the rise in retail prices, efforts have been intensified to control prices by increasing sales from 'buffer stock' in the wholesale markets. Earlier, the government had started selling onions at a discounted rate of Rs 35 per kg. But, onions are currently available at Rs 70 per kg in the retail market. At the same time, tomatoes are also being sold at Rs 70-80 per kg.

Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, said on Monday that the central government has started releasing onions from its 'buffer stock' in the wholesale markets of Delhi and other major cities. She said that the government plans to retail subsidized onions across the country. Khare said that we expected a jump in prices after the removal of export duty on onions. She said that with our 'buffer stock' of 4.7 lakh tonnes and increased area of ​​Kharif sowing, we hope that onion prices will remain under control.

Nidhi Khare said that the central government is planning to increase the retail sale of onion at a subsidized rate of Rs 35 per kg across India. She said that more attention is being given to those cities where its prices are higher than the national average. According to the data of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the retail price of onion in Delhi on September 22 was Rs 55 per kg, which was Rs 38 per kg in the same period a year ago. At the same time, its prices in Mumbai and Chennai have reached Rs 58 and Rs 60 per kg respectively.

He said that the government is selling onions at the rate of Rs 35 per kg from September 5 through mobile vans and shops of National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) in the capital New Delhi and other state capitals. Khare said that there are high expectations from the upcoming Kharif onion crop. Regarding the rising prices of tomatoes, he said that the government will keep an eye on the trends and will intervene if needed.

Apart from this, Nidhi Khare has expressed hope that the prices of pulses will remain stable in the coming months with the domestic Arhar and Urad production being good and the increase in the import of pulses.

It is worth noting that 10 days ago, the Central Government had removed the minimum export price of $ 550 per tonne on onion, while the import duty on crude palm oil was increased by 20 percent and on refined sunflower oil by 32.5 percent, with the aim of supporting domestic oilseed farmers and processors.