The Centre enhanced the buffer stock of onions from three lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to five LMT on Sunday. The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) will sell onions at retail price of ₹ 25 per kilogram from Monday.
The Centre, on Saturday, imposed 40% duty on export of onions. “The measures taken by the Government such as procurement for the buffer, targeted release of stocks and imposition of export duty will benefit farmers and consumers by assuring remunerative prices to onion farmers while ensuring continuous availability to consumers at affordable prices.” the Union Consumer Affairs Department said in a release.
The Department termed the move to enhance the stocks as unprecedented and said it has directed NCCF and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.(NAFED) to procure one lakh tonne each to achieve the additional procurement target alongside calibrated disposal of the procured stocks in major consumption centres.
“Disposal of onions from the buffer has commenced, targeting major markets in States and union territories where retail prices are above the all-India average and/or are significantly higher than the previous month. As on date, about 1,400 MT of onions from the buffer have been dispatched to the targeted markets and are being continuously released to augment the availability,” the Centre added.
The release added that apart from releasing in major markets, onions from the buffer are also being made available to retail consumers at a subsidised rate of ₹25 per kilogram through retail outlets and mobile vans of NCCF from Monday. “Retail sale of onion will be suitably enhanced in coming days by involving other agencies and e-commerce platforms,” it said.
