Retail prices of key agricultural commodities including rice, sugar, mustard oil and onion are ruling at significantly higher levels compared to the previous year, according to the price monitoring cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Rise in prices of these commodities is attributed to declining production and higher global prices. The elevated prices of these commodities is likely to push food inflation further in the coming months.
Retail onion prices rose to Rs 52.66/kg on Wednesday, up 90% from a year earlier. Retail prices have risen by more than 50% over the past month, while prices in Delhi-NCR have crossed Rs 60/kg.
However, trade sources attributed the price rise to reports of a 5%-7% decline in kharif onion output in Maharashtra, the country’s largest onion-producing state, due to lower acreage and delayed monsoon rains.
To curb the price rise, the government has started to offload onion at the subsidized rate of Rs 35/kg from its buffer while sources said that prices are likely to rise until the end of October, until the arrivals of the kharif harvest.
The retail prices of rice and mustard oils increased to Rs 46.23/kg and Rs 202.14/kg on Wednesday, a 7% increase over the previous year.
An official said the government currently holds close to 40 million tonnes (MT) of rice stock against a buffer requirement of 10.25 MT for October 1; this stock would be offloaded under the open market sale scheme to curb the price rise.
The retail prices of wheat, chana (gram) dal, potato, and tomato as of Wednesday have declined or witnessed only a marginal year-on-year increase due to ample supplies, robust buffer and output.
Wheat prices have declined marginally year-on-year to Rs 31.71/kg. Traders said the government currently holds over 20 MT of surplus wheat after meeting the requirements of the public distribution system and buffer stocks.
At present, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) holds 47.78 MT of wheat against a buffer of 20.52 MT for October 1. Retail inflation in wheat was moderate at 0.26% in July 2026 compared with the year-ago period. The government last month allowed exports of wheat and wheat products without any conditions, shifting the commodity from the ‘restricted’ to the ‘free’ export category with immediate effect.
Potato prices have declined over 9.5% to Rs 22.74/kg compared to the previous year while tomato prices have softened to Rs 39.07/kg, a 12% year-on-year decline. Officials state that prices have declined due to robust production and stocks.
The chana (gram) price has declined marginally to Rs 87.72/kg at present, due to sufficient imports as well as about 2 MT of buffer held by government agencies – Nafed and NCCF.