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 said.
Bulk consignments have already reached Delhi and Chennai via the Kanda Express, and a third rake is now being loaded for dispatch to Guwahati in the coming days, she added.
"The distribution of buffer onions has brought some relief to consumers. Prices have fallen slightly," Khare said, adding that the quality of the government's buffer stock was comparable in size and quality to what private traders were selling.
She noted that the rabi onion crop, typically stored for release later in the year, had suffered some damage during harvesting due to untimely rains.NCCF Managing Director Anice Joseph Chandra said the federation alone has sold 1,500 tonnes of buffer onion so far.
"So far, we have sold 1,500 tonnes of buffer onions in different cities across the country. The focus is on retail and selling at Rs 35 per kg," she said.
Several state governments have shown interest in the scheme, she said, with NCCF tying up with a few states to sell through its stores, mobile vans, cooperative societies and other platforms identified by local administrations.
NCCF's retail intervention is currently underway in the Delhi-NCR region, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha and a few other states. The nodal Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) is handling the sorting, grading, packing and movement of buffer onion to these states.
According to Chandra, the subsidised sale has led to a Rs 2-3 per kg fall in prices.Data maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs shows the average all-India retail price of onion stood at Rs 50.79 per kg compared to Rs 48.5 per kg when the subsidised sale was launched on August 28.
On September 5, onion was retailing at Rs 58 per kg in Delhi, Rs 53 per kg in Mumbai, Rs 63 per kg in Chennai and Rs 40 per kg in Ranchi, while the average wholesale price stood at Rs 42.79 per kg.
Officials said the outlook for the new kharif onion crop looks promising, and its arrival in the market from mid-October is expected to ease supply pressure and bring further relief on prices.