NAFED Managing Director, Sanjeev Kumar Chadha recently said that the GOI is now left with about 25,000 tonnes of onions in its buffer stock that will get exhausted in the first week of November.

In a situation of rising Onion prices, GOI has recently relaxed the Plant Quarantine Order, 2003. This, as a result, would allow traders to import non-fumigated onion without phytosanitary certification, which is a formal declaration by an exporting country or an importer guaranteeing that the shipments are free of pests and plant diseases.

In a bid to cool down the retail onion prices that are ruling over Rs 75 per kg in some places, the centre has stepped up efforts and has asked the states and union territories to take the kitchen staple onion from the central buffer stock into the retail. As per data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, retail onion prices in Mumbai were ruling at Rs 86/kg, in Chennai at Rs 83/kg, in Kolkata at Rs 70/kg, and in Delhi at Rs 55/kg as of October 22.

Currently, NAFED is offloading onion buffer stock in the market to boost domestic availability and check the rise of onion prices which surpassed Rs 75 per kg in some parts of the country in the last few weeks. It is also offering states the onions at Rs 26 per kg plus transportation charges for retail intervention.

The government will sell more onions from its buffer stock and has recently allowed quicker imports by relaxing conditions for overseas purchases, the consumer affairs ministry said, as retail prices crossed ₹100 per kg in Mumbai and Pune in a price spiral triggered by the festive-season.

Lasalgaon wholesale market in Nashik district of Maharashtra, one of the biggest onion markets in the country as well as Asia, received only 4,000 quintals of onion on Thursday, according to a Mumbai Mirror report, against its average supply of 15,000 quintals indicating a shortage of the onions.

The cooperative NAFED is maintaining the onion buffer stock in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan stated that some states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Haryana, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu have shown interest in taking a total of 8,000 tonnes of onions from the buffer. She also added that the ministry is awaiting a response from other states. To check prices in Delhi, NAFED is also offering onions from the buffer stock for retail sale via Kendriya Bhandar and Mother Dairy’s Safal outlets in the national capital.  The government has so far offloaded 30,000 tonnes of onion from the buffer stock of 1,00,000 tonnes created from the purchase of the 2019-20 Rabi crop.

The Kharif onions are likely to start arriving soon in mandis and the government hopes that an estimated Kharif crop supply of 37 lakh tones would boost supply and soften the prices.  On September 14, the government had announced a ban on onion export to ensure availability to domestic consumers at reasonable rates during the lean season before the Kharif-onion’s arrival. Meanwhile, the government is considering the import of onions and has relaxed fumigation and phytosanitary norms till December 15 and has activated Indian consulates to facilitate the shipments.

The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness.