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Raipur, October 30, 2024: Onion prices have crossed Rs 60 in many places of Chhattisgarh, but the Central government is not taking that into consideration, whereas for price stabilisation wagons load of onion have been dispatched to Delhi, Chennai and even Guwahati from Nashik.
Another 840 tons of onions, procured by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) under the price stabilisation fund of Department of Consumer Affairs has arrived at Kishanganj Railway Station of Delhi yesterday for disposal in Delhi-NCR, official sources said.
This is the second bulk transportation of onions by train to Delhi-NCR after NCCF brought 1,600 MT of onions to Kishanganj Station on October 20, last by Kanda express.
Most of the onions will be released in Azadpur Mandi to augment overall availability in the market while part of the stock will go for retail sale at Rs 35 per kg, they said.
The impact of bulk disposal of onion at Azadpur Mandi may be seen at graph given below:
Bulk transportation of onions by rail rake has been adopted, for the first time, for a timely, reliable and cost-effective delivery of onions to various regions, they said.
NAFED had earlier transported 840 MT of onions by rail rake from Nashik, which arrived at Chennai on October 26, last.
Another rail rake from Nashik to Guwahati has left Nashik yesterday morning with 840 MT of onions procured by NCCF. Bulk shipments by rail augments the continuous transportation of onions by trucks across the country.
The government had procured 4.7 lakh tons of rabi onion for the price stabilization buffer this year and started the release from September 5, through retail sale at Rs 35 per kg and also through bulk sales in major mandis across the country.
Till date over 1.40 lakh tons of onion in the buffer have been dispatched from Nashik and other source centres to consuming centres through trucks by road transport.
As on date, NCCF has covered 104 destinations in 22 States and NAFED covered 52 destinations in 16 States in their onion disposal. The agencies have also partnered with retail chains such as SAFAL, Kendriya Bhandar and Reliance Retail for distribution of onions to retail consumers at Rs 35 per kg. In addition, 86,500 MT of onion has been allotted to 9 States Governments/Cooperative Societies for retail distribution.
Government sources claimed, since the start of onion disposal till date, the retail prices of onion have substantially stabilized in major States such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, UP, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. All-India average retail prices remained largely stable during October.
The onion shipment by rail to Guwahati will enhance availability in North-eastern States and is expected have dampening impact on prices in the region and also on the all-India average, they added.
Mandi prices in Nashik mandi also declined from the peak of Rs 47 per kg on September 24 and is currently at Rs 40 kg yesterday.
