The annual seasonal spike in onion prices was effectively moderated this year with the government transporting the vegetable from Maharashtra to several consuming cities using dedicated rail rakes also referred to as ‘Kanda Express’, a senior official said.
Nidhi Khare, secretary, department of consumer affairs told FE that a special rake this season transported 85,719 tonne of onion from the government’s buffer stock from Maharashtra to consuming locations across south, east and northern regions of the country. This is a seven-fold increase in transportation through rakes from 11,798 tonne in 2024.
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Each rail rake has a carrying capacity of 800-900 tonne, equivalent to the combined capacity of 30 trucks.
Scaling Up the ‘Kanda Express’ Initiative
“Despite procurement accounting for only about 1% of total production, targeted and timely dispatch of larger quantities to the consuming centres through Kanda express, created impact across multiple geographies and ensured market stability during the lean season,” Khare said.
The onion production in the 2024-25 crop year (July-June) has increased by 27% to 30.78 MT compared to 2023-24 due to higher area. Higher output has brought down prices sharply in the last few months.
Retail inflation in onions has been in the negative zone since May 2025. Prices declined by 55.38% in November, 2025 compared to a year ago period.
The usual seasonal price spike observed in November was effectively moderated due to timely rail-based dispatches and targeted buffer interventions, according to an official note.
The number of rail rakes increased six-fold, from 14 to 86 this year. The geographical coverage has also expanded from 5 locations last year to 16 major consuming cities in 2025.
Record Production and Market Impact
The government agencies – National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) and farmers’ cooperative Nafed purchased 0.3 million tonne (MT) of onion from the farmers from Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat for buffer. In FY25, the government agencies had purchased 0.47 MT of onion.
In order to ensure bulk, rapid and economic movement of onions, the department of consumer affairs in collaboration with Indian Railways in 2024 had launched ‘Kanda Express’, marking the first-time use of railway wagons for transporting buffer onions.
During September to December 18, over 0.2 million tonne (MT) of onions have been dispatched to major consuming centres and other locations where prices relatively prevail higher.
Meanwhile, NCCF, which procured onions along with Nafed under price stabilisation has started retail sale of onions at Rs 19/kg in NCR Delhi, well below the prevailing market price of Rs 25–35/kg.
The government had lifted the 20% export duty on onions imposed on September 13, last year, from April 1, 2025. In F25, the government had imposed minimum export prices and even to the extent of banning exports for alomist five months, from December 8, 2023 till May 3, 2024.
India exported 0.72 million tonne of onion during April-September, 2025-26, which is 80% higher than same period FY25. India has exported 1.14 MT of onion in 2024-25 while Bangladesh, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Nepal were the major export destinations.