NCCF to offer subsidised onions in multiple states

Rising onion prices: The National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF), on behalf of the central government, has extended its efforts to provide relief to consumers grappling with escalating onion prices. The NCCF has decided to retail onions at a subsidized rate of Rs 25 per kilogram in various states, in addition to Delhi-NCR.

The NCCF initiated the sale of subsidised onions on September 9 at 100 different locations in and around Delhi, and it has now expanded its coverage to include all states from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala.

To facilitate access, the cooperative body has been selling onions online through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform using platforms such as Paytm, MagicPin, and MyStore in cities like Srinagar, Jaipur, Varanasi, and Delhi-NCR.

So far, 416 vans have been deployed, and they have sold 2,219.61 tonnes of onions in retail markets, according to the NCCF.

The surge in retail onion prices over the past two weeks, reaching up to Rs 80 per kilogram in different parts of the country, can be attributed to a delay in the arrival of fresh crops and hoarding of old crops by traders.

The NCCF is selling onions from the government's buffer stock of 5 lakh tonnes maintained for the current year.

As of Friday, the all-India average retail price of onions stood at Rs 59.56 per kilogram, with a maximum rate quoted at Rs 88 per kilogram and a minimum rate of Rs 18 per kilogram. In Delhi, the retail price of onions was Rs 75 per kilogram, according to government data.

To improve domestic availability and control price hikes, the government recently imposed a minimum export price until the end of December.

(With PTI inputs)