PEELING THE KANDA EXPRESS

As trains loaded with onions chug along, what is the impact on farmers, consumers, and traders?

- SANJEEB MUKHERJEE

On October 20, the Central government pumped 1,600 tonnes of onion into Delhi and adjoining markets to cool prices ahead of the festivals. The consignment came from Nashik in a train of 42 wagons euphonically called the Kanda Express – Kanda is Marathi for onion.

This was one of the largest-ever wholesale interventions by the Centre in onion. The stock was sold through auction at a base rate of ₹35 a kilogram (kg). Government sources say the average cost of procuring from farmers was ₹28 a kg, up from ₹17 last year.

Similar arrangements were made for transportation of onion in bulk to Lucknow, Varanasi, and north-eastern states including Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur.

Nashik, in Maharashtra, is one of the country's largest onion trading centres. State polls are around the corner. The government has also eased the export curbs on onions, which would shore up its prices.

A second similar train, carrying 840 tonnes of onions, reached Delhi a few days back. Onion procurement for the first train was done by the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and for the second by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed).

Wholesale prices of onion in Delhi's Azadpur mandi have declined by almost 7 per cent since October 22. Not only that, the Centre says onion prices in the wholesale markets of Nashik declined from the peak of ₹47 a kg on September 24 to ₹40 a kg on October 29.

In addition to Delhi, Nafed transported 840 tonnes of onion by rail rake from Nashik to Chennai, which arrived on October 26. Another rail rake was sent from Nashik to Guwahati with 840 tonnes of onion procured by NCCF.