Buffer onions will be sold at Mother Dairy’s Safal locations for Rs 25/kg

The Centre on Saturday announced that Mother Dairy’s Safal outlets will also sell buffer onions at a subsidized rate of Rs 25 per kg starting this weekend in Delhi-NCR, while Hyderabad Agricultural Cooperatives Association is doing the same in Telangana and other southern states. This is an increase in steps taken to alleviate consumers from rising onion prices.

On behalf of the central government, cooperative organizations NCCF and Nafed are already selling buffer onions at retail stores at a discounted price. According to the statement, NCCF has established 457 retail points in 54 cities throughout 20 states, compared to Nafed’s 329 retail points, which are made up of mobile vans and station stores, spread over 55 cities across 21 states.

On November 3, Kendriya Bhandar also began selling onions at retail via its locations in the Delhi-NCR.

“This next weekend marks the launch of Safal Mother Dairy. Hyderabad Agricultural Cooperatives Association (HACA) is taking up the retail selling of onions to consumers in Telangana and other southern states, according to a statement from the consumer affairs ministry.

In an attempt to shield customers from the recent spike in onion prices brought on by the delay in the arrival of the kharif crop, the ministry has started an aggressive retail sale of onions from the buffer.

For the current year, the government has kept a buffer stock of 5 lakh tonnes of onions, and it intends to add another 2 lakh tonnes.

Although it takes time for retail markets to adjust, wholesale prices are trending downward as a result of recent government actions.

According to the statement, the wholesale price of onions was Rs 4,800 per quintal on October 28 at the Lasalgaon market in Maharashtra, as opposed to Rs 3,650 per quintal on November 3. Within a week, there was a twenty-four percent decrease.

The ministry said, “Retail prices are expected to show a similar decline from the coming week.”

It will be remembered that the government stepped in and purchased tomatoes through NCCF and Nafed from producing states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra, and supplied them at a heavily subsidised rate to consumers in major consumption centers. This was done in response to supply disruptions caused by monsoon rains and white fly infestation, which caused tomato prices to skyrocket starting in the last week of June 2023.

The government has also introduced Bharat Dal at a subsidized price of Rs 60 per kg in order to guarantee that dal is accessible and affordable for regular families.

Bharat Dal is supplied to the Army, sold to customers at retail stores, and used in welfare programs run by the state-run cooperatives in Telangana and Maharashtra, NAFED, NCCF, Kendriya Bhandar, and Safal.