While the retail price of Onion in Delhi is Rs 44 kg in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai it is Rs 45 kg, Rs 57 kg and Rs 42 kg respectively.
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Centre has geared up its machinery to stabilize prices of Onion, Potato and Tomato by releasing its buffer stock on ‘First-in-First-Out’ (FIFO) basis so as to ensure minimal storage loss and reduce the wholesale prices of three essential vegetables, claimed the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution.
If senior officers of the Ministry of Public Distribution are to be believed the release of buffer stock on FIFO basis has brought down the wholesale prices to a level that it has become cheaper than last year.
While the retail price of Onion in Delhi is Rs 44 kg in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai it is Rs 45 kg, Rs 57 kg and Rs 42 kg respectively. The All India retail prices of Onion has also come down to Rs 37.06 per kg, the Ministry stated.
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The Ministry said the release of buffer stock is targeted towards States where present prices are above the all-India average, it said. So far a total of 67,3567 Metric Tonnes Onions has been released in major markets mainly Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kochi and Raipur.
Apart from releasing in these markets, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also offered onions from the buffer at Rs.21/kg to all the States for lifting from the storage locations, the Ministry claimed. It would enable States to intervene either through direct supply to retail consumers through retail outlets to bring down prices, it said.
Onion buffer has been maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs under the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) with the objective of effective market intervention to moderate prices. In this fiscal year, the centre had procured 2.08 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) onions during April to July 2021, the Ministry stated.
The Ministry has made similar efforts to soften the prices of potato and tomato. The retail price of Potato and Tomato in Delhi are Rs 20 and Rs 56 kg respectively. The All India Retail price of Potato and Tomato are Rs 21.22 kg and Rs 41.73 kg respectively.
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