Informist, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024

By Pallavi Singhal

NEW DELHI – Even as onion prices move upwards, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is facing hurdles in offloading the vegetable from the government's buffer stocks, two senior officials told Informist.

The government had procured 470,000 tonnes of onions through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India and the National Co-operative Consumers' Federation to build up its buffer stocks. "The ministry only expects to get 63% of the total procured quantity, or about 300,000 tonnes, as the rest is understood to have been of lower quality or lost in transportation," one official said.

However, according to the official, only about 150,000 tonnes have been distributed so far, and there are issues in trying to bring the remaining quantity to the market. "All supplies are taken care of by the two agencies appointed," the official said. "We rely completely on them. But issues are now coming up from their end, where if we are asking for 20 trucks, we are getting barely two."

In the past week, as government intervention tapered off, the average retail price of onion across India rose almost 6% to INR 58.4 per kg. The government had supplied 1,600 tonnes of onions to Delhi on Oct. 20. Another shipment of 840 tonnes of onions was brought in on Oct. 30. About 840 tonnes each were shipped to Chennai and Guwahati till Nov. 5. Since then, however, only one more shipment of about 730 tonnes has arrived in Delhi.

Another hurdle the government is facing while trying to cool onion prices is ensuring continuous sales of the vegetable in retail markets. "We have attempted to sell in retail markets, but our stocks are not coming in consistently," the second official from the ministry said. "Our sales in the wholesale markets brought prices down, but only for a limited period. Moreover, there is no mechanism to keep a check on retail traders or bind them to a price. Our interactions with online platforms for selling onions have also not worked."

While the ministry's internal study shows that prices slumped after the government's bulk intervention in Delhi, prices began rising again last week following the delay in the kharif onion harvest hitting the markets. The government is now relying on fresh arrivals of kharif onion and increased sowing of late kharif onion to temper rising prices.

"The actual kharif sown area this year was 382,000 hectares, which is 34% higher than 285,000 hectares sown last year. Sowing progress of late kharif onion is also reported to be normal with coverage of 128,000 hectares till the first week of November," according to a statement released by the ministry Tuesday.

The ministry expects prices to come down now as the holiday period ends. "The peak price rise in onions happened on the back of a labour shortage owing to the prolonged festival period, when migrants went home for Diwali and Chhat. Mandis were also closed for long periods, creating supply issues," Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said at a media briefing Wednesday. End

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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