The Centre will begin retail sale of onions at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg in the national capital from Thursday, as prices have surged to Rs 55-60 per kg in several cities across the country.
Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi is scheduled to inaugurate the subsidised sale on Thursday, a senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official said.
The onions being released into the market are from a buffer stock of 1.21 lakh tonnes maintained across producing states for 2026.
The retail intervention will be carried out through three agencies — NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar.
“We will start the sale tomorrow in Delhi and after that, by the weekend, extend it to the NCR region,” Anice Joseph Chandra, managing director of the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF), said.
NCCF, which holds a buffer stock of 62,000 tonnes of onions, is transporting 400 tonnes from Nashik in Maharashtra through the “Kanda Express”, which is expected to reach Delhi on Thursday.
The cooperative agency will retail onions through 100 Kendriya Bhandar stores and is in talks with Mother Dairy for sale through its 300 outlets. It will also deploy mobile vans, with 15 initially and the number rising to 40 from Friday.
Supplies arriving by rail will also be used for sale in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Varanasi and other cities, Chandra said.
NAFED, which is maintaining a buffer stock of less than 55,000 tonnes of onions, will similarly sell them in Delhi and other centres, including Kochi and Guwahati.
To move supplies quickly, the government is transporting bulk onion consignments to the capital through dedicated railway rakes christened “Kanda Express”.
The first such rake, carrying 800 tonnes of onions, has already left Nashik and is en route to Delhi.
Besides Delhi, four other centres — Chennai, Ernakulam, Madurai and Guwahati — are set to receive onion supplies through dedicated rakes, though bookings for these routes are yet to be made.
The move comes amid a sharp rise in onion prices over the past month. The all-India average retail price rose by more than 28 per cent to Rs 44.72 per kg on August 25, from Rs 34.80 per kg a month earlier on July 25. Compared with a year ago, when onions retailed at Rs 28.67 per kg, prices have risen 56 per cent.
The situation is more pronounced in several metros. On Wednesday, retail onion prices stood at Rs 60 per kg in Chennai and Kolkata, compared with Rs 35 and Rs 32 per kg, respectively, a year ago.
Prices stood at Rs 55 per kg in Delhi, against Rs 33 a year ago, Rs 48 per kg in Mumbai, against Rs 32, and Rs 38 per kg in Ranchi, against Rs 25.
Wholesale prices have also followed a similar trajectory. Ministry data showed the average wholesale price stood at Rs 36.73 per kg on August 25, up 63 per cent year-on-year from Rs 22.54 per kg and 33.5 per cent over the past month.
Officials attributed the price rise to the usual seasonal uptick seen between August and September, driven by festive demand, weather-related disruptions, supply chain movements and changing consumption patterns.
Despite the price surge, the government said onion availability remains adequate to meet domestic demand in the coming months.
This is backed by an estimated 2025-26 production of 307.37 lakh tonnes, broadly in line with the 307.67 lakh tonnes recorded the previous year.
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