Centre starts onion sales in Delhi NCR at ₹35/Kg, at other places soon

To protect consumers’ and farmers’ interests, the government is closely monitoring onion prices, arrivals and availability across states

Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare on Thursday launched discounted sales of onion at ₹35/Kg in the national capital region of Delhi and told media that similar sales would start in other places like Lucknow, Chandigarh and Ludhiana where rates of the edible bulbs are very high.

Blaming traders for profiteering by trying to create artificial scarcity, she said that there is no problem with availability and there is no need to import.

Onion Export

The Centre is selling onion from its buffer stock after 1.21 lakh tonnes (lt) were procured directly from farmers for the purpose. After flagging off some mobile vans carrying onions, the secretary also said that there is no plan to put a ban on onion exports. During April-June 2026, India had exported about 3.82 lt of onion.

Khare asserted that the country has adequate supply of onions to meet demand during the festive season and said that prices would start falling once the message goes out about government’s steps. She said a similar experience was witnessed during price rise of tomato a few months back when government sold the vegetable at discounted rates.

In Delhi, the retail price of onion on Thursday was ₹62 per kg, same as was day before, but almost double in past six months, government data show. In a month, there is 32 per cent increase in Delhi, 46 per cent in Punjab, 39 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 50 per cent in Odisha, 45 per cent in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh 29, Karnataka 36 and Rajasthan 30.

The retail sale will be carried out through three cooperatives — Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar, as well as by Mother Dairy, owned by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), through its Safal outlets.

While Nafed would be selling onions in 39 places including 14 in Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh, NCCF would sell at 40 places through mobile vans and also in 8 retail outlets. Kendriya Bhandar will sell onion in its 102 retail stores in Delhi where grocery items are sold.

Buffer stock

Stating that the current onions released for sales in Delhi were transported via trucks from Nashik, where the buffer stock is maintained by the Centre, she said more quantity would be available when the first dedicated railway rake named “Kanda Express”, carrying 800 tonnes of onions will reach Delhi, likely on Thursday night.

The Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has been engaged for the first time as the storage agency for the onion buffer during 2026-27, she said adding the percentage of recovery (after factoring weight loss and other losses) has improved to 72 per cent now from 49 per cent four years back. Recovery is the actual quantity of onion for use from the procurement volume as with time its weight gets reduced due to dryness.

To protect consumers’ and farmers’ interests, the government is closely monitoring onion prices, arrivals and availability across states, officials said adding more steps, if needed, would be taken to ensure adequate supplies and bring down the price.

Onion production is estimated at 307.37 lt in 2025-26 against 307.67 lt in 2024-25. According to field reports, the area under the crop in current Kharif season is about 4 per cent higher than year-ago. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan are the key surplus producers of onion and supply to the entire country.

Published on August 27, 2026