NEW DELHI: Ahead of important assembly polls that will set the tone for the Lok Sabha election early next year, the Union government is adopting multi-pronged measures to keep the onion prices under check.
The onion prices have seen around a 20 percent spike in the last two weeks.
After imposing a heavy 40 percent duty on exports, the government has now increased its onion buffer target to 5 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT), out of which it has already accumulated around 3 LMT.
In this regard, the Department of Consumer Affairs has directed agencies like the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) to procure an additional 1 LMT each.
These agencies were also directed to calibrate the disposal of the procured stocks in major consumption centers. The NCCF will use mobile vans from Monday to ensure the availability of onions at a subsidized rate of Rs 25 per kg. Retail sales of Onion will be suitably enhanced by involving other agencies and e-commerce platforms. With these, the Centre expects an improvement in the domestic availability of onions.
On Saturday, it imposed a 40 percent export duty on onions with immediate effect up to December 31, 2023. Disposal of onions from the buffer has already begun. The NCCF and NAFED have been targeting major markets in states and Union Territories where retail prices are above the all-India average or are significantly higher than the previous month.
According to the Ministry of Consumers Affairs, around 1,400 MT of onions from the buffer has been dispatched to the targeted markets till date. Traders say the retail prices of onion would cross `50 by early next month as the new onion harvest is scheduled for October.