New Delhi: There is sufficient stock of onion in the country. Still, to control the ever-rising prices due to hoarding, the government has started selling onion at the rate of Rs. 35 per kg in Delhi, NCR and Mumbai from Thursday. Within a week, onion will be sold at a discounted rate in Kolkata, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, Chennai and Bangalore.

To break the network of hoarders, onions will be available at cheaper rates across the country by the third week of this month. For this, government agencies have started signing agreements with other cooperative societies and big retail chains. There is 4.70 lakh tonnes of onion in the buffer stock.

Where can we get cheap onions?

Consumer Food and Public Distribution Minister Pralhad Joshi flagged off a van selling onions. Onions can be purchased at subsidized rates from the outlets of National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Limited (NCCF), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), mobile vans, e-commerce platforms and outlets of Kendriya Bhandar.

The government believes that farmers and traders still have 38 lakh tonnes of onion stored. The government is also confident about the next crop. There is a 102 percent increase in Kharif sowing area till August as compared to the same period last year. According to the Agriculture Department, Kharif onion has been sown in 2.90 lakh hectares so far, whereas in the same period last year, planting was done in only 1.94 lakh hectares.

4.7 lakh tonne buffer stock of onion

Prahlad Joshi said that keeping the prices of food items under control is the priority of the government. We have a buffer stock of 4.7 lakh tonnes of onion, whereas last year this quantity was only three lakh tonnes. Last time, onions were purchased from farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Payment was made into their accounts.

Onion purchase has improved in this Rabi season as well. Farmers have received more money. Last year, onions were purchased at the rate of Rs 693 to Rs 1,205 per quintal, whereas this time, onions have been purchased at the rate of Rs 1,230 to Rs 2,578 per quintal.