Shed no more tears while buying onions

Recently, onion prices have been soaring in city; to ensure affordability, onions are being sold at subsidised rate of Rs 35/kg in B’luru from Monday onwards

While the onion rates are soaring in markets in the city, the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited’s (NCCF) Bengaluru Branch, working under the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, is undertaking the sale of onions under the price stabilisation fund (PSF) at a subsidised rate. They made arrangements to sell onions at Rs 35 per kg through mobile vans at different locations in the city on Monday, such as Basaveshwara Nagar, Sunkadakatte, Nagarabhavi, Rajajinagar, and Mahalakshmi Layout.

With the failure of the onion crop in Maharashtra, onion prices have been rising in Bengaluru for the last one month, thus increasing pressure on homemakers’ monthly budget. Onions are now priced at Rs 40, Rs 60, or Rs 70 per kg, depending on their quality. The pricing is expected to go northward till the arrival of onions from Chitradurga.

Sale of onions at subsidised rates in Bengaluru

Under the scheme, onions purchased from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will be sold in Bengaluru city from Monday onwards. This initiative will be extended to 28 assembly constituencies in the city.

Additionally, on Tuesday the sale will be in place at Basaveshwara Nagar Gayatri Temple, Nandini Layout bus stand, Sunkadakatte Wild Craft, Nagarbavi Annpoorneshwari Nagar, Rajaji Nagar Ram Mandir, Govindaraja Nagar Patteghar Palya, Laggeri Chowdeshwari Nagar, Mahalakshmi Layout, Ganapathi Layout, Malleshwaram Vegetables Market, Chamarajpet Uma Theatre, Yeshwanthpur LIC Colony, Vasanth Nagar NCCF Office, Nagarbhavi DMart, Peenya Second Stage bus stand, and Majestic Bus Stand.

This initiative was taken up to ensure that the public will get onions at an affordable rate following reports of a spike in the rate in the open market.

Ravi Chandra, Branch Manager, NCCF, said that every assembly constituency has been allotted four mobile onion vans from the NCCF. A total of 112 mobile vans will be used to sell onions at subsidised prices. “Sale will continue till the onion rates return to normalcy. Today we used 15 vans to sell onions. The number of vans will be increased to 50 by Thursday and 112 by next week,” he explained.

Chandra said the NCCF had taken a similar initiative last year when onion prices were up. “We sold 10,000 metric tonnes of onions last year. The retail price of onions per kg was between Rs 70 and Rs 100 last year. Later, the prices of onions came down to Rs 20 during that time,’’ he said.

Sale will continue till onion rates return to normalcy. Today we used 15 vans to sell onions. Number of vans will be increased to 50 by Thursday & 112 by next week ­– Ravi Chandra, Branch Manager, NCCF

Meanwhile, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Onion Merchants’ Association president BL Shankarappa said the failure of the onion crop in Maharashtra caused a shortage of onions. “The wholesale price of onions is around Rs 1,500 per 50 kg, but the retail price is between Rs 60 and Rs 70 per kg in the city. We have to wait for onion prices to come down till onions arrive from Chitradurga district,’’ said Shankarappa.

Public reaction
Meanwhile, homemakers at Basaveshwara Nagar and other areas are elated regarding the availability of onions at subsidised prices. “I am very happy to get onions at Rs 35 per kg as against Rs 70 per kg in the market. The quality of onions is good. As of now, consumers are eligible to get only two kg of onions. It’s my request that the NCCF staff members allow each consumer to buy three kg of onions instead of two kg,’’ said Madhu, a homemaker from Basaveshwara Nagar.