Second Kanda Express With 840 Tonnes of Onions Reaches Chennai
This follows the first Kanda Express rake, which carried 450 tonne of onions and reached Delhi late on August 27
New Delhi: The second 'Kanda Express' - a dedicated railway rake carrying 840 tonne of onion from the buffer stock - reached Chennai on August 31, with the Tamil Nadu government planning to distribute 1 kg onion per ration card through the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday. The onions are expected to be distributed across various districts of Tamil Nadu, the ministry said in a statement.
This follows the first Kanda Express rake, which carried 450 tonne of onions and reached Delhi late on August 27. Of this, 140 tonnes were sent to Varanasi, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Amritsar, while the remaining quantity was distributed across the Delhi-NCR region.
The government has begun a calibrated release of onion buffer stocks under a hybrid transportation model - combining railway rakes (Kanda Express) and road transport - to ensure adequate availability and check seasonal price pressures. Both Kanda Express consignments were dispatched from Nashik, the country's onion hub.
Alongside the rail movement, around 1,000 tonne of onions are being transported by road to major consumption centres, based on prevailing market conditions and price trends, to improve availability and moderate prices.
RETAIL PUSH ACROSS 19 CITIES
Retail intervention has been scaled up across 19 cities, backed by the dispatch of over 30 trucks to ensure wider availability. These include Delhi, Jaipur, Jammu, Dehradun, Shimla, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Guwahati, Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna, Bhojpur (Bihar), Sharif (Bihar), Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Madurai, Thrissur and Kochi.
Onions are being sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg through NCCF, NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar outlets and mobile vans to ensure affordable availability for consumers.
So far, approximately 669 tonne of onions have been sold - 223 tonne through bulk channels via the e-NAM portal and similar online platforms at prevailing mandi rates, and 446 tonne through retail channels across the country.
The disposal of onions from the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) buffer, which began on August 24 through NAFED and NCCF, has helped improve market availability and ease prices, particularly in centres where consignments have already reached, such as Varanasi, Amritsar, Delhi and nearby markets, the ministry said.
The government maintained 1.21 lakh tonne of onion in its buffer stock for the current year.
Prices have declined since the day after disposal began, with further supplies expected to support price stability.
Separately, the government said Rs 210 crore has been paid directly to around 3,400 onion farmers, ensuring timely payments. It reiterated its commitment to supporting onion farmers while ensuring adequate and affordable availability for consumers.
The ministry added that robust security measures have been put in place to prevent leakages and address security concerns during the movement and disposal of large quantities of onions through the railway rakes.
