Govt agencies SFAC and Nafed to sell Nashik onion in Delhi

PUNE: Central government agencies SFAC and Nafed have decided to move their onion stocks from Nashik to Delhi as retail prices have almost trebled within a month. These onions will be sold at Safal and Delhi Milk Scheme outlets, and will be cheaper than market rates by Rs 10 a kg.

However, traders claim that this will not help control rising prices as the government’s stock is sufficient for only two days and there’s a basic shortage of the bulb in the country. SFAC (Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium) and Nafed (National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation) had together procured 5,000 tonne of onions on behalf of the Centre while SFAC has procured another 2,500 tonne for the Delhi government through the price stabilisation fund (PSF).

"We plan to bring about 100 tonne onions per day to Delhi and sell them at aboutRs 30 to Rs 32 a kg against the market rate of Rs 40 to Rs 42 a kg," said Pravesh Sharma, MD of SFAC. The Delhi government is still finalising its plans for the retail sale of 2,500 tonne of onions it has stocked through SFAC. Though onion prices have moved up across the country, both wholesale as well as retail prices in Delhi are less than Maharashtra.

The NCR gets most of its onions from Rajasthan, MP and UP, which are cheaper than Maharashtra onions. The wholesale prices continued to rise across major markets in Maharashtra, touching Rs 40 a kg in wholesale markets like Pune APMC. However, traders think the prices can’t be reversed now. "Prices have increased due to the shortage of onions caused by the unseasonal and deficient rains," said Sohanlal Bhandari, president, Nashik District Onion Traders’ Association.