Delhi to get buffer-stock onions at ₹35 a kg from Thursday

Delhi shoppers will be able to buy onions at ₹35 per kg from Thursday through Centre-arranged sales from its buffer stock.

The onions will be available through Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar outlets. NCCF plans to use 100 Kendriya Bhandar stores, start with 15 mobile vans and expand the fleet to 40 from Saturday. The agency is also discussing supplies through Mother Dairy outlets.

The intervention follows a rise in Delhi’s retail onion price to about ₹55 per kg, compared with ₹33 per kg a year earlier. Nationwide, the average retail price reached ₹44.72 per kg on August 25, up more than 28% from a month earlier.

NCCF is moving onions from Nashik to Delhi by a dedicated rail service known as the Kanda Express. The first consignment is expected to reach Delhi on Thursday.

NCCF managing director Anice Joseph Chandra said the agency plans to extend sales to the NCR by the weekend.