New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) In a relief for consumers in Delhi, the price of onions has begun to go down, and is expected to remain at Rs 35 to 40 per kg following the expected arrival of the Centre’s ‘Kanda Express’ and the release of the government’s buffer stocks into the national capital’s vegetable ‘mandis’.
To ease onion prices, the Central government flagged off the ‘Kanda Express’, a hybrid transport model — utilising both railway and road transport — to ensure supply to major consumption centres, including Delhi.
The first ‘Kanda Express’ departed from Maharashtra’s Nashik on Wednesday for New Delhi. As a result, onions are now expected to be sold at around Rs 35 per kg through National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), Kendriya Bhandar, and other retail outlets.
Speaking to IANS, Rajkumar Luthra, an onion trader at East Delhi’s Ghazipur vegetable market, said that the consignment expected from Nashik has not yet arrived but is anticipated by Thursday evening.
He noted that, according to what he has heard, the onions arriving at the national capital’s Adarsh Nagar vegetable market would subsequently be sold via “online auction”.
He noted that the current market price ranges from Rs 35 to Rs 45 per kg, adding that the arrival of this new stock would bring significant relief to the public.
Meanwhile, onion traders in the national capital’s Okhla Mandi said that the onion prices have fallen due to the stocks being sent to the ‘mandis’ by the government.
An onion trader, Mohammad Bilal, said that the prices of onions in Delhi have not surpassed Rs 45.
Speaking to IANS, he attributed the reason for the hike in prices to less quantity being supplied to the markets.
“NAFED had also stocked up (onions), the inflation in markets was due to this,” he added.
Bilal said that since NAFED is releasing subsidised buffer stocks in many places, though not in Delhi yet, the prices of onion are expected to go down.
Another trader, Naeem Rahman, said: “Now more quantity of onions is being supplied across markets in Delhi. Currently, the best quality of onions is priced at Rs 35-40. This reduction in price (compared to the previous Rs 50-60) is because buffer stocks have been released and markets are now receiving sufficient quantity of the vegetable.”
“Earlier, since the quantity was less, the prices of onions went up,” he told IANS.
–IANS
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