Centre to sell onion at `24/kg in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday kick-started subsidised sale of onions at Rs 24 per kg in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad to make the key kitchen staple available to consumers at affordable rates.

After flagging off mobile vans for the sale, Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi said about 25 tonnes of onions from the buffer stock will be sold in these cities through cooperative agencies — Nafed, National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and Kendriya Bhandar. Joshi told reporters that onions will be sold at Rs 24 per kg at places where retail prices are higher than Rs 30 per kg.

The subsidised onion sale will be extended to Chennai, Guwahati and Kolkata from Friday and will continue till December. The all-India average retail price of onions was Rs 28 per kg on Thursday, while in some cities the rates were above Rs 30 per kg, according to official data.

Currently, the government has a buffer stock of 3 lakh tonnes of onions procured at an average price of Rs 15 per kg during 2024-25 as part of the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) scheme.

Joshi said the calibrated and targeted disposal of onions from the buffer stock is an integral part of the government’s efforts to control food inflation and maintain a stable price regime.