Govt buys 71,000 tonnes of onion for buffer stock; expects retail prices to ease with normal monsoon
price stabilisation and it expects retail prices to ease with the progress of monsoon over most parts of the country. According to data compiled by the department of consumer affairs, the all-India average onion retail prices stood at Rs 38.67 per kg on Friday, while the modal price was Rs 40 per kg.
Till June 20th, the Centre has procured 70,987 tonnes of onion, as against 74,071 tonnes procured in the same period last year, a senior official in the department of consumer affairs said.
«The pace of onion procurement for price stabilisation buffer this year is largely comparable with last year, despite about 20 per cent decline in estimated rabi production,» the official said, adding that the government is on course to achieve targeted procurement of 5 lakh tonnes for price stabilisation.
The government will exercise the option of holding or releasing onions from the buffer in order to maintain stability in prices of onion, the official said.
The procurement price is a dynamic one, linked to prevailing market prices.
The increase in prices of onion is on account of a shortfall in production in 2023-24 by about 20 per cent each in Kharif, late Kharif and Rabi, over the previous year due to less rains in major producing areas, the official explained.
To control prices, the government has been taking measures in a graded manner, from August last year starting with export duty of 40 per cent, followed by Minimum Export Price (MEP) of USD 800 per tonne in October, 2024 and imposition of export prohibition from
