A Maha train-load of onion to city

Special wagons ferrying 1,600 metric tonnes of kitchen essential will reach capital on Oct 20

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY

FIRST time, the Union government has run a special train for transporting 1,600 metric tonnes (MT) of onion from Nashik to Delhi to control rising onion prices in the city. The train will reach Delhi on October 20. The fresh harvest of onions will start reaching the market by November's first week which will reduce the onions' prices. The government will soon start special trains to transport onions to Lucknow and Varanasi as well.

The central government has so far procured 4.7 lakh tonnes of rabi onion through National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF). After procurement, the government has aggressively distributed onions across states since September 5 through mobile retail as well as bulk sale at ₹35/kg. To date, about 92,000 MT of onion in the buffer has been dispatched from Nashik and other places to consuming centres through trucks.