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Prices of onion are now cheaper than last year with all India retail price at Rs 40.13 kg and wholesale price at Rs 3,215.92 per quintal.

Onion prices had started rising from the first week of October, due to rains that disrupted the supply chain. In order to cool down prices, the Department of Consumer Affairs had taken up calibrated and targeted release of onions from the buffer on First-in-First-Out (FIFO) principle, guided by the twin objectives of moderating prices and ensuring minimal storage loss, the Centre said.

As a result of these steps, the all India retail price of onion on Wednesday was Rs 40.42 per kg while the all India wholesale price was Rs 3,253.53 per quintal.

Till November 2, a total of 1,11,376.17 MT onions has been released in major markets such as Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kochi, and Raipur.

In addition, onions are disposed of in local markets in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.

Apart from releasing in the market, the Department of Consumer Affairs has offered onions from the buffer at Rs 21 per kg to all the states and UTs for lifting from the storage locations. This would enable states and UTs to take up, by themselves, market interventions either through direct supply to retail consumers through retail outlets or release in key markets to bring down prices.

The stocks are also available for supply to Central and states' agencies involved in retail marketing either at an ex-storage rate of Rs 21 per kg or at a landed price after including transportation costs.

SAFAL has been offered at the landed price of Rs 26 per kg and has lifted 400 tonnes. Nagaland is also being supplied from the buffer.

Onion buffer has been maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) with the objective of effective market intervention to moderate prices. In 2021-22, against the target of building 2 LMT Onion buffer a total of 2.08 LMT was procured from Rabi-2021 crop during April to July.