With onion prices climbing across major cities, the government says it has begun a calibrated release of the kitchen staple from its buffer stock to keep the prices in check as festive-season demand picks up.
Onions will be sold at ₹35 per kg through NCCF and NAFED outlets and mobile vans, as well as Safal and Kendriya Bhandar stores — roughly 160 outlets and 90 mobile vans combined, a government release stated.
India’s onion output for 2025-26 is estimated at 307.37 lakh tons, nearly matching last year’s 307.67 lakh tons. Despite the comfortable supply, the government said it has set a price stabilization fund (PSF) procurement target of 2 lakh tons for Rabi onions in 2026-27.
Procurement began on 15 May and about 1.21 lakh tons have been bought so far through NAFED and NCCF. The Central Warehousing Corporation has been brought on board as storage agent for the buffer for the first time.
With festivals such as Onam, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, Diwali and the wedding season approaching, onion prices typically see a seasonal uptick — prompting the pre-emptive release.
Rail and road transport are being used to move stock from producing regions to consumption centers. The “Kanda Express” rail initiative, which moved about 12,000 MT via 14 rakes to 5 cities in 2024-25, scaled up sharply in 2025-26 to 86 rakes carrying roughly 88,000 MT to 16 cities.
A fresh Kanda Express run from Nashik to Delhi NCR has just begun, alongside road shipments to Chennai, Kolkata, Ernakulam, Guwahati, Varanasi, Lucknow, Patna, Chandigarh, Jammu and Amritsar.
Onion exports remained strong at about 3.82 lakh tons in April–June 2026, led by Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UAE and Nepal. The Consumer Affairs Department tracks prices of 41 essential items across 579 centres nationwide to guide intervention decisions.
As of 26 August, the average retail prices stood at: onion ₹37.87/kg, tomato ₹38.33/kg, potato ₹22.63/kg, chana dal ₹86.71/kg, atta ₹40.48/kg, tur dal ₹123.30/kg, and milk ₹60.82/litre — with tomato, potato and chana dal cheaper than a year ago, the government claimed.
The government said it will keep monitoring prices and adjust the scale and reach of buffer releases as needed.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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