4,000 tonnes in 10 days: India's buffer onion push starts to cool prices

India's government has sold about 4,000 tonnes of buffer onions across 17 cities in the first 10 days of a subsidised sale aimed at reining in soaring prices, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said on Sunday (September 6, 2026). Sold at a flat ₹35 per kg, the intervention is the Centre's most direct push yet to keep a kitchen staple within reach of ordinary households.

A 'Kanda Express' for onion relief

The Centre, through its agencies National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (Nafed), is moving stored onions in bulk from producing States to consuming centres — either on a dedicated rail rake christened "Kanda Express" or by trucks.

Bulk consignments have already reached Delhi and Chennai aboard the Kanda Express, and a third rake is now being loaded for dispatch to Guwahati in the coming days, Ms. Khare said.

"Approximately 4,000 tonnes of buffer onion have been sold so far in 17 cities," Ms. Khare told PTI.

Early relief, with a caveat

"The distribution of buffer onions has brought some relief to consumers. Prices have fallen slightly," Ms. Khare said, adding that the government's buffer stock was comparable in size and quality to what private traders were selling.

She noted that the rabi onion crop, typically stored for release later in the year, had suffered some damage during harvesting due to untimely rains.

NCCF Managing Director Anice Joseph Chandra said the federation alone has sold 1,500 tonnes of buffer onion so far. "So far, we have sold 1,500 tonnes of buffer onions in different cities across the country. The focus is on retail and selling at ₹35 per kg," she said. According to Ms. Chandra, the subsidised sale has led to a ₹2-3 per kg fall in prices.

Several State governments have shown interest in the scheme, with NCCF tying up with a few States to sell through its stores, mobile vans, cooperative societies and other platforms identified by local administrations. The retail intervention is currently underway in the Delhi-NCR region, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha and a few other States, with the nodal Central Warehousing Corporation handling the sorting, grading, packing and movement of buffer onions.

What onions cost right now

Data maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs shows the average all-India retail price of onions stood at ₹50.79 per kg, compared with ₹48.50 per kg when the subsidised sale was launched on August 28 — a sign the intervention is still fighting a rising tide.

More relief could be weeks away

Officials said the outlook for the new kharif onion crop looks promising, and its arrival in the market from mid-October is expected to ease supply pressure and bring further relief on prices. Until then, the subsidised sale — and the Kanda Express — will carry the load.