Parul
The government on August 20, 2023, announced that it has raised the quantum of onion buffer to five lakh metric tonnes this year, after achieving the initial procurement target of three lakh metric tonnes.
The consumer affairs department has also directed the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.(NAFED) to procure around one lakh metric tonnes of onions to further achieve the additional procurement target.
Alongside procurement, the said bodies will retail onions at Rs 25 per kg through outlets and mobile vans of NCCF from August 21 2023. Disposal of onions from the buffer has commenced, targeting major markets in states where retail prices are above the all-India average or are significantly higher than the previous month.
As of date, about 1,400 metric tonnes of onions from the buffer have been dispatched to the targetted markets and are being continuously released to augment the availability.
Through measures like procurement for the buffer, targeted release of stocks and imposition of export duty, the government plans to ensure continuous availability of onions and also provide benefit to the farmers by assuring remunerative prices to them.
To improve the domestic availability of onions, the government had on Saturday (August 19) imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions with immediate effect up to December 31, 2023.
