Nafed floats tender to import 15,000 tonnes onions by November 20

New Delhi: As retail price of onions are touching the sky, the cooperative Nafed on Saturday invited bids from importers for the supply of 15,000 tonnes of red onions by November 20 in order to boost the domestic availability and check price rise.

As per the tender documents, the Nafed has asked bidders to supply 40 to 60 mm size of red onions from any country of origin at Rs 50 per kg by November 20. They can bid for a minimum quantity of 2,000 tonnes to be supplied in multiple lots of 500 tonnes, it said.

"The bidding will close on November 4 and received bids will be opened on the same day. The shipments are to be delivered at Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Kandla ports," the tender document said.

"The bulb should be free from mechanical damage or sprouting and it should not be wet. Also, the cargo should be free from carbon damage and any deviation may attract penalty or rejection of cargo at the sole discretion of Nafed," the tender document stated.

"We have floated tenders for the supply of 15,000 tonnes of imported red onions. This will help increase the domestic supply situation," Nafed Additional Managing Director SK Singh said.

The bids will be evaluated based on volumes, quality and early date of shipment. Bidders have to supply fresh, well dried and cured onions, he added.

Since the buffer stock of onion, which Nafed manages on behalf of the government, is gradually getting depleted, the cooperative has been asked to augment domestic supplies with imported onions to continue with the ongoing market intervention.

Last year, Nafed had not only imported on its own some quantities but also distributed onions imported by state-run MMTC.

This year, it wants to get the supplies from importers so that shipments could arrive fast and improve the domestic supply situation. Even the size of onion Nafed has specified for supply is what Indians normally consume.

Last year, big size onions were imported which were not taken by either stats or any other department. Even, the large size onions were not sold in the retail market due to poor 'quality' and taste.