In addition to the tenders floated by MMTC for the import of 10,000 tonnes of onions, the Centre is set to ship in extra 1,000 tonnes of the bulb to check the rise in its prices.
The decision was announced by Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Food Minister, after a review meeting held on Thursday over the prices and availability of the kitchen staple.
“A further 1,000 tonnes of onions will be imported in the coming days to increase domestic availability and stabilise prices,” Paswan said after the meeting.
Two tenders for the import of 2,000 tonnes of onion from China and Egypt have been finalised.
While the first shipment had landed on Thursday and will be available by end-September, a second shipment is likely to reach India within two weeks.
Paswan said government agencies will continue to intervene in the open market to improve availability of onions to be sold through the Delhi government and Safal outlets where it has been priced at ₹38/kg.
“At present, 100 tonnes is being supplied daily by both the agencies together in Delhi. Any difference in the cost for these operations would be reimbursed by the Price Stabilisation Fund,” he said.
The average retail price of the bulb has stayed at ₹60 in New Delhi, the same as a week ago, and up 30.4 per cent over the month. Retail prices are up a whopping 77 per cent than at the same time last year, when the average price was ₹34/kg.
Fresh arrivals of the early Kharif harvest – which makes up 5-6 per cent of the total seasonal crop – from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra had helped lower prices from a peak of ₹80 last month.
Earlier, officials had said that prices are unlikely to cool off till the Kharif crop hit markets in October.
Private traders have also been importing the bulb from Egypt and Afghanistan.