New Delhi, Oct 17 : The government on Thursday announced that 1,600 metric tonnes (MT) of onions are set to arrive from Nashik in Delhi-NCR via the rail route by October 20 to stabilise the prices of the staple food in the festive season.

The Department of Consumer Affairs said that 42 covered wagons (approximately 53 trucks) with onions, procured by the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) under the price stabilisation fund, was being shipped by rail by the Kanda fast train from Nashik to Delhi-NCR.

The department said that it is the first time that bulk transport of onions by rail rake has been adopted under price stabilisation intervention. Once it reaches, the stocks will be released in Delhi-NCR which will substantially increase the availability to consumers during this festive season.

"Railways as a mode of onion transportation is set to gain importance as more destinations are being added to bolster the pace of disposal. Shipments by rail rake to Lucknow and Varanasi will be scheduled in the next few days," Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said.

The Secretary also said the recent surge in tomato prices is because of excess rains and high moisture levels in major tomato-producing areas of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.

"The supply situation is set to improve in coming days with increased arrivals from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh which would bring down the tomato prices," she said.

The department has also requested Indian Railways to allow transportation of onion rakes from Nashik to multiple locations across the northeastern region which would include New Jalpaiguri (Siliguri), Dibrugarh, New Tinsukia, and Changsari. The government had procured 4.7 lakh tonnes of rabi onion for the price stabilisation buffer this year, and started the release from September 5 through retail sales at Rs 35 per kg and also through bulk sales in major mandis across the country.

About 92,000 MT of onion in the buffer has been dispatched from Nashik and other source centres to date to consuming centres through trucks by road transport. So far, the NCCF has covered 77 destinations in 21 states and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) covered 43 destinations in 16 states in their onion disposal drives. The government said that average retail prices of onions in major states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Jharkhand and Telangana have come down in recent days in comparison to the level in the first week of September.

/IANS