THE Government has sold about 4,000 tonnes of buffer onions across 17 cities in the first ten days of a subsidised sale aimed at curbing skyrocketing prices, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said on Sunday. The Centre, through its agencies NCCF and Nafed, is sitting on a buffer stock of 1.21 lakh tonnes of onion for 2026. These agencies are transporting the stored onions in bulk from producing states to consuming centres, either by a dedicated rail rake christened“Kanda Express” or by trucks, as part of a retail intervention aimed at cooling prices. Onions are being sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg in select price-sensitive cities. “Approximately 4,000 tonnes of buffer onion have been sold so far in 17 cities,” Khare told PTI.

 

Bulk consignments have already reached Delhi and Chennai via the Kanda Express, and a third rake is now beingloaded for dispatch to Guwahati in the coming days, she added. “The distribution of buffer onions has brought some relief to consumers. Prices have fallenslightly,” Khare said, adding that the quality of the Government’s buffer stock was comparable insize and quality to what private traders were selling. She noted that the rabi onioncrop, typically stored for releaselater in the year, had sufferedsome damage during harvestingdue to untimely rains. NCCF Managing Director Anice Joseph Chandra said thefederation alone has sold 1,500tonnes of buffer onion so far. “Sofar, we havesold1,500 tonnes of buffer onions indifferent cities across the country. The focus is on retail and selling at Rs 35 per kg,” she said.