The first ‘Kanda Express’ carrying 800 tonnes of onion will reach the national capital on Wednesday, and the key vegetable item will be sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said on Tuesday.
The onion will be retailed via Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar stores in the national capital, Khare said on a social media platform.
Bulk onions are also being transported through dedicated railway rakes to four other centres — Chennai, Ernakulam, Madurai and Guwahati, she added. The onion being transported to these consuming centres is a buffer stock maintained at Nasik, Maharashtra. The stock is being released to check price rise.
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Data maintained by the ministry shows the all-India average retail price of onion rose 59 per cent year-on-year to Rs 43.53/kg on August 24, from Rs 27.37/kg a year ago. The average wholesale price was up 68 per cent at Rs 35.58/kg, against Rs 21.23/kg in the year-ago period.
Among major cities, retail onion prices on Monday stood at Rs 60/kg in Chennai (Rs 33 a year ago), Rs 55/kg in Delhi (Rs 35) and Rs 53/kg in Kolkata.
The Kanda Express initiative, aimed at enhancing logistical efficiency for large-scale onion movement, was launched in 2024-25 and has since been scaled up considerably.
In 2024-25, 14 railway rakes carrying nearly 12,000 tonnes of onion buffer stock were dispatched to five cities. In 2025-26, this has expanded to 86 rakes carrying about 88,000 tonnes of onions to 16 major cities across the country.
The onion buffer stock is the Centre’s strategic reserve, built up primarily to cushion the market against price spikes when supplies tighten. The government maintains onion stocks in different producing states as part of the Price Stabilisation Fund scheme.
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About 1.21 lakh tonnes of onion buffer has been maintained for 2026.
According to the government, onion availability remains comfortable to meet domestic demand over the coming months, supported by estimated 2025-26 production of 307.37 lakh tonnes, ‘broadly on a par with 307.67 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
Onion prices typically see a seasonal uptick from August-September due to festive demand, weather-related disruptions, supply chain movements, and shifting demand patterns.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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