Second train with 840 tonnes of onion arrives in Delhi to boost availability

New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) The government on Wednesday said that a second train carrying 840 tonnes of onions from Nashik arrived in the national capital for disposal in the Delhi-NCR area.

Most of the onions will be released in Azadpur Mandi to augment overall availability in the market, while part of the stock will go for retail sale at Rs 35 per kg, said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The onions have been procured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) under the price stabilisation fund of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

This is the second bulk transportation of onions by train to Delhi-NCR, after the National Co-operative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) brought 1,600 MT of onions to Kishanganj Station in New Delhi on October 20 by the Kanda Express. Bulk transportation of onions by rail rake has been adopted for timely, reliable and cost-effective delivery of onions to various regions, said the government.

NAFED had earlier transported 840 tonnes of onions by rail rake from Nashik which arrived at Chennai on October 26. Another rail rake from Nashik to Guwahati left Nashik on October 30 with 840 tonnes of onions procured by the NCCF.

Bulk shipments by rail augment the continuous transportation of onions by trucks across the country. The government had procured 4.7 lakh tonnes of rabi onion for the price stabilisation buffer this year, and started the release from September 5 through retail sales at Rs 35 per kg and also through bulk sales in major mandis across the country.

Over 1.40 lakh tonnes of onion in the buffer have been dispatched from Nashik to date and other source centres to consuming centres through trucks by road transport. According to the government, the NCCF has covered 104 destinations in 22 states and the NAFED covered 52 destinations in 16 states in their onion disposal. Since the start of onion disposal till date, the retail prices of onion have substantially stabilised in major states such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

Mandi prices in Nashik mandi also declined from the peak of Rs 47 per kg on September 24 and are currently at Rs 40 a kg.