Another 840 MT of onion from the Government’s price stabilisation buffer had arrived at Kishan Ganj Railway Station in Delhi on early morning of 17th November, 2024 by rail rake dispatched from Nashik by NAFED. The onions have been allocated to Mother Dairy (500 MT), NCCF (190 MT) and NAFED (150 MT) for retail sale across Delhi – NCR at Rs.35 per kg.
The latest arrival had been the fourth bulk shipment of onion to Delhi from the price stabilisation. The first shipment of 1,600 MT of onion transported by Kanda Express arrived on 20th October, 2024, the second shipment of 840 MT arrived on 30th October, 2024, third shipment of 730 MT arrived on 12th November, 2024. Another shipment of 720 MT, fifth in the series, has left Nashik yesterday and likely to reach Delhi by 21st of November.
Apart from Delhi, bulk shipment of onions has also been sent to Chennai and Guwahati in recent past. On 23rd October, 2024, 840 MT of onion had been dispatched from Nashik by rail rake which arrived at Chennai on 26th October 2024.
A shipment of 840 MT onion by rail rake arrived at Changsari Station in Guwahati on 5th November, 2024, which was distributed in various districts of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and other NE States.
Another shipment of 840 MT by rail rake to Guwahati, Assam is planned for this week. Bulk shipment to Guwahati will augment the availability of onions in NE Region and stabilise the onion prices in the region.
Further, one more shipment of 840 MT by rail rake to Amausi, Lucknow is expected in another 2/3 days, with the start of loading tomorrow.
The government has decided to upscale the onion disposal in order to address temporary constraint in onion supply observed in certain markets in the past 2/3 days owing to festival season and closure of mandis.
A team of officers from Department of Consumer Affairs, NCCF and NAFED has recently visited Nashik to accelerate the nationwide disposal of onions.
NAFED has indented two more rakes for Delhi-NCR and one for Guwahati this week. Similarly, dispatch through road transport is also being upscaled to ensure availability of onions in the markets. The availability of onions would be further accentuated by more supplies from NCCF, both through rail and road transport. NCCF has also planned for one more rake in the coming week.
Additionally, the government has also decided to offload onions kept in cold storage at Sonipat to meet the requirements of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal, J&K, Delhi etc. and also from RJVM, CWC cold storage Nashik to augment the supply of onions in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam etc. The government is alive to the market developments and keeping close watch to take ameliorative action to stabilise the onion prices.
The government had procured 4.7 lakh tons of rabi onion for the price stabilization buffer this year, and started the release from 5th September, 2024 through retail sale at Rs.35 per kg and also through bulk sales in major mandis across the country. Till date over 1.50 lakh tonnes of onion in the buffer has been dispatched from Nashik and other source centres to consuming centres.
The intervention through PSF had significant impact on the prices of onions in various states. The average retail prices in majority of the states have been lower than the national average. Major among them are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujrat, Chandigarh, Haryana, Goa etc.
In respect of production, as per the assessment of Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, actual kharif sown area this year was 3.82 lakh hectare which is 34% higher than 2.85 lakh hectare sown last year. Sowing progress of late kharif onion is also reported to be normal with coverage of 1.28 lakh hectare till first week of November. More kharif onions arriving in the markets along with increased disposal of buffer stocks and also good sowing progress of late kharif will ensure availability of onions to the consumers at affordable prices.
