State-owned Mother Dairy has sold so far 5,000 tonnes onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 23.90 per kg in the national capital region and plans to further boost the supply to ensure consumers do no stand in long queues to buy the cheaper produce, according to its top official.
Retail onion prices have skyrocketed to Rs 60-80 per kg in Delhi and some other parts of the country due to supply disruption from flood-affected growing states like Maharasthra.
To give relief to consumers from high prices, the central government is offloading 50,000 tonnes of buffer stock of onion across the country. Mother Dairy and cooperatives Nafed and NCCF are selling this stock in Delhi at a subsidised rate.
“We are concerned about long queues for onion in front of our Safal outlets. We will bring in more quantities in the coming days,” Mother Dairy Managing Director Sangram Chaudhary told PTI.
The price rise in onion is “temporary and will phase out slowly” with the arrival of fresh kharif crop from November onwards, he said, and added that there is no shortage of onion in the country.
So far, Mother Dairy sold 5,000 tonnes of onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 23.90 per kg. The stock was taken from the buffer stock being maintained by cooperative Nafed on behalf of the central government, he said.
Chaudhary said, “It is quite a big quantity. We are trying to stabilise and balance the market. We are selling at no-profit, no loss. We have always helped the government to balance market through Safal booths and will continue to do.”
The company started with 20 tonnes of onion and reached now 150-200 tonnes per day. Much of the stock is from Nasik in Maharasthra, an official of Mother Dairy in-charge of Safal business said.
He said the company is selling whatever Nafed allocates. The company does sorting and grading of onion stock before selling through its outlets.
The official further said that three vigilant teams are visiting randomly the Safal stores to check if the stock of onion is displayed and posters are kept to create awareness among consumers that they are entitled for 2 kg onion.
Mother Dairy”s fruit and vegetable arm Safal has 400 retail outlets in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon.
