Centre to sell onions at subsidised rate of Rs 25/kg through retail outlets of NCCF, NAFED: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday said that the government is procuring onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal from today in an attempt to help farmers and consumers both.  

He added that government agencies, National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), will be selling onions at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 kg for consumers in different regions. 

The Centre on Sunday raised the onion buffer to 5 lakh metric tonnes (mt) for the current year, surpassing the initial procurement target of 3 lakh metric tonnes after onion prices surged more than 20 per cent as compared to last year. 

"NCCF and NAFED will buy 5 lakh tonnes of onions instead of 3 lakh so that our farmers don't have any problems. Two lakh tonnes will be bought at Rs 2,410 per quintal... NCCF and NAFED will sell onions at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 kg for consumers in different regions. This subsidy will be provided by the government,” Goyal said at a press briefing on Tuesday. 

He added that the step is being taken to ensure that both farmers and consumers benefit. 

On August 19, the Centre imposed an export duty of 40 per cent on onions to check retail prices that have surged drastically in the last two months. The levy will be in force till December 31. 

The duty notification issued by the government did not mention any floor price.  

The step is the government’s first attempt to control high prices of the kitchen staple ahead of the festive season. 

“A 40 per cent export tax has been imposed on onion so that there is an adequate quantity of onion available in India... From 11 am today, NCCF and NAFED will begin the purchase of additional onion stock from Nashik, Pimpalgaon, Lasalgaon, Ahmednagar and the entire region. More purchases will be made in future if needed,” Goyal said. 

Goyal said NCCF and NAFED started purchasing onions from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and other areas where onions are grown so that farmers get the right price for their produce.  

Defending its move to impose the export duty on onion exports till December 31, the government on Monday said the decision was not "premature" but a timely move to boost domestic supply and control retail prices. 

"It is not a premature decision to impose export duty on onion. It is a timely decision taken to increase the domestic availability and check prices," Union Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI. 

Several farmers’ unions staged protest at several places in Nashik district in Maharashtra against the 40 per cent duty. Traders reportedly closed onion auctions indefinitely in all the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in the Nashik district, including at Lasalgaon, which is the largest wholesale onion market in India.  

However, APMC sources told PTI that onion auctions took place in Vinchur, which is also in the same district. 

India contributes over 12 per cent of global onion trade by value. 

Between April 1 and August 4 this fiscal, 9.75 lakh tonnes of onions have been exported from the country. The top three importing countries in value terms are Bangladesh, Malaysia and the UAE. 

(WIth agency inputs)

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