Centre expands Rs 35/kg onion sale to 19 cities amid supply concerns

The Centre has widened its discounted onion sale to 19 cities, offering onions at Rs 35 per kg as prices rise following crop damage caused by rains in recent weeks. Delhi is among the cities covered by the intervention, with the Centre set to provide 1,000 metric tonnes of onions to the capital.

The onions will be sold to consumers at Rs 35 per kg through fair price shops and mobile vans across all 13 districts, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta said on Tuesday. The mobile vans are aimed at taking affordable onions to areas where people may find it difficult to access fair price shops. Similar sales are being offered through mobile vans in Lucknow, Varanasi and Jaipur, while consumers in Noida can buy the onions through NCCF outlets and mobile vans. The intervention comes as onions are currently selling at around Rs 50-60 per kg in Delhi's retail markets. The Delhi government has decided to procure onions and make them available to consumers at affordable prices. Gupta said her government would not allow any onion shortage in the capital. The government is keeping a close watch on both availability and prices to ensure that essential food items remain available to Delhi residents at reasonable and affordable prices.

One mobile van will be deployed in each of Delhi's 13 districts to sell onions at Rs 35 per kg. The vans will move through different areas to ensure that consumers who do not have easy access to fair price shops can also buy onions at the discounted rate. The Delhi government said the move is aimed at increasing the availability of affordable onions across the city and ensuring that more people can benefit from the intervention. The government will continue to monitor the situation and take necessary steps to prevent any shortage or sharp increase in onion prices, the Delhi CMO said. The department concerned has also been asked to monitor the supply of onions received by Delhi, ensure that the stock reaches the market properly and prevent hoarding and necessary actions will be taken wherever required.

The latest intervention follows a review meeting held on August 25 on the availability and prices of onions and sugar in Delhi under the chairmanship of Gupta. The meeting found that there was currently no shortage of onions or sugar in the capital. However, it was decided that if prices rose further, the Delhi government would ensure that residents did not have to bear the additional burden. If required, the government would procure onions and sugar from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), a Central government institution, and arrange to make them available at various locations across the capital. The commodities would be sold based on the prices at which they were procured from NAFED, while the Delhi government would bear the cost of transportation and other related expenses. Gupta said the government was keeping a close watch on onion availability and prices so that no shortage arose in the capital under any circumstances.