To curb retail prices, the government will transport 1,600 tonne of onion from its buffer using railways network from Maharashtra to Delhi, first such move using bulk transportation for the key vegetable in the country.
The special rake, titled ‘Kanda Express’, carrying onions procured by National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India will depart from Maharashtra’s Lasalgaon Railway Station on Thursday and reach Delhi’s Kishanganj railway station on October 20.
Officials said that the stocks will be released in the wholesale market of Delhi-NCR which will substantially increase the availability to consumers during this festive season. Similar dispatches of onion using railways is planned for Lucknow, Varanasi and northeastern states.
An official said the government is in discussions with Concord to transport the onions in sealed containers to reduce the risk of damage.
Stating that transporting onion is a cost-effective, Nidhi Khare, secretary consumer affairs has said transporting one rake (equivalent to 56 trucks) from Nasik to Delhi costs Rs 70.20 lakh by rail, compared to Rs 84 lakh by road — translating to savings of ₹13.80 lakh/rake.
Since September 5, the government has started to sell onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 35/kg from various retail outlets across the country from its buffer of 0.47 million tonne (MT). So far 92,000 tonne of onion in the buffer has been dispatched from Nashik and other source centres to consuming centres through trucks by road transport.
In addition, 86,500 tonne of onion has been allotted to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur and cooperative societies for retail distribution.
The onion is being sold through e-commerce platforms, retail chains – SAFAL, Kendriya Bhandar and Reliance Retail and through mobile vans and outlets.
Agencies – farmers’ cooperative Nafed and NCCF have procured 0.47 MT of onion for the price stabilisation fund buffer from the rabi 2024 harvest this year from farmers, against 0.3 MT purchased in the previous year.
These agencies have purchased onion from farmers at an average price of Rs 25/kg this fiscal, compared to procurement of staple vegetables at an average price of Rs 17/kg in FY24.
At present, retail prices are ruling in the range of Rs 60 – Rs 75 per kg in various cities. Inflation in onion prices rose by 66% in September on year.