Government To Sell Onions At Rs 25 A Kilo, Not Considering Imports For Now, Says Piyush Goyal

The central government has begun distribution of onions at a subsidised price of Rs 25 per kg as concerns mount around its price rise adding to food inflation.

Distribution of onions at subsidised rates across major consumption areas will increase from this week, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal told the media in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Goyal said onion procurement by the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation would increase from the current procurement levels of 5 lakh tonnes if necessary.

The government has announced it would procure onion stock at Rs 2,410 per quintal through the NCCF and the Nafed.

Onion is the second vegetable staple following tomatoes to see a price rise after being impacted by bad weather and delayed kharif sowing.

However, the minister said that no import measures were currently under consideration for onion.

The procurement rates are "historic", Goyal said, explaining that farmers in onion-producing states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh need not worry about the sale of their onion stock and engage in panic selling.

The government had raised the quantity of onion buffer to 5 lakh tonnes for 2023–24 after achieving the initial procurement target of 3 lakh tonnes.

The NCCF and the Nafed were entrusted to procure 1 lakh tonnes each to achieve the additional procurement target along with calibrated disposal of the procured stocks in major consumption centres.

As a measure to maintain domestic availability, the government also imposed an export duty of 40% on onions last week.