Onion prices: Govt increases buffer to 5 lakh metric tonnes to combat price rise

Asia's largest onion market has stopped the trading of the bulb indefinitely to protest against the Centre's imposition of 40 percent export duty

The government, on August 20, increased the onion buffer to 5.00 lakh metric tonnes for the current year, surpassing the initial procurement target of 3.00 lakh metric tonnes.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to collectively procure 1.00 lakh tonnes each, in order to achieve the procurement goal.

The government has already started distributing onions from the buffer, with a focus on major markets within states and union territories where retail prices exceed the national average or show a significant increase from the previous month.

Also read: India imposes 40% export duty on onions until December 31

As of now, approximately 1,400 metric tonnes of onions from the buffer have been dispatched to these targeted markets.

In addition to distribution in major markets, the buffer's onions will also be made accessible to retail consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kilogram through NCCF's retail outlets and mobile vans from August 21.

The retail sale of onions will be further expanded in the coming days, the government has said.

"The multipronged measures taken by the Government onion like procurement for the buffer, targeted release of stocks and imposition of export duty will benefit the farmers and consumers by assuring remunerative prices to the onion farmers while ensuring continuous availability to the consumers at affordable prices," it said.