Published Sep 12, 2026 | 3:20 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 12, 2026 | 3:29 PM
Onions at ₹35/kg: Consumers queue up as government steps in to tame onion prices
Synopsis: With onion prices having soared to ₹85 a kg in parts of Keralam, the state government stepped in to sell 100 tonnes of onions at a subsidised ₹35 a kg through Horticorp and Supplyco. The move came amid dwindling stocks, delayed fresh arrivals and storage losses. Meanwhile, the Opposition is questioning whether such a limited intervention can make a real difference to prices.
Onions, the belief went, brought down governments.
In fact, in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, Indira Gandhi carried a garland of onions to her political rallies to attack the incumbent Janata Party government. Many other governments have been said to have fallen because of the vegetable that Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda once wrote an ode to.
It’s not just Neruda. Onions are very special to Malayalis too. The savala, big red onion, in particular is rarely just another kitchen vegetable for them.
It goes into the masala, gives curries their base, lends sweetness to gravies and turns up in a range of tea-time snacks and street-food favourites. But the ingredient that quietly holds together so much of Malayali cooking has suddenly turned expensive, with onion prices having climbed to as much as ₹85 a kg in parts of the state.
The sharp rise has prompted the government to step in.
Agriculture Minister T Siddique announced on September 3 that 100 tonnes of onions will be procured through the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation and sold at ₹35 a kg through Horticorp and Supplyco outlets.
The move aimed to ease pressure on consumers as supplies tighten and prices remain stubbornly high.
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Onions at ₹35/kg: At a Horticorp stall in Thiruvananthapuram
Siddique had said the government would not leave consumers at the mercy of rising market prices and would take necessary steps to contain the increase.
The government is selling the onions through Horticorp and Supplyco outlets.
Twenty tonnes reached the state initially. Ten tonnes were sent to the Malabar region and another 10 tonnes to southern Kerala.
A further 30 tonnes reached the state on Thursday, September 10, while arrangements were under way to procure the remaining quantity.
The decision followed an official-level meeting at the Secretariat chaired jointly by Siddique and Food and Public Distribution Minister Anoop Jacob to review the sharp rise in onion prices on 8 September.
Wholesale prices had risen to between ₹58 and ₹80 a kg in several markets, including Kollangode, Kayamkulam, Chala and North Paravur. These markets have been prioritised during the intervention’s first phase.
Horticorp and Supplyco are jointly handling distribution. Horticorp’s mobile outlets have also been pressed into service to make the onions available to consumers.
The Agriculture Department had prepared storage arrangements, including cold-storage facilities under its control at Vazhakulam in Ernakulam to prevent spoilage of the procured stock.
Siddique said additional quantities would be brought in depending on market demand and assured that funds would not hinder further procurement.
The Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies departments plan to closely monitor onion prices and availability, with further market intervention planned if the situation warrants.
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Onion prices have shot up sharply across the country, with prices up 50–75% from year-ago levels.
Onions at ₹35/kg: Special mobile vehicles arranged by the government to sell savala in Wayanad.
Retail prices have soared to as much as ₹85 a kg in several major consuming markets, not just Keralam.
The Food and Civil Supplies Department in Keralam attributed the current increase mainly to higher prices at major production centres, including Nashik in Maharashtra and Karnataka. It also pointed to stock being held by wholesalers and a situation in which adequate quantities of onions were not reaching the markets.
The squeeze comes despite national onion production remaining broadly stable on paper.
The problem, officials and market sources indicate, is the availability of marketable stocks at the right time.
India depends heavily on onions harvested during the rabi season between March and May to meet demand through the summer and monsoon months. This year, however, a sharp early-season fall in wholesale prices encouraged farmers and traders to release stocks quickly instead of retaining them for the lean months.
As a result, the stored rabi onions have been depleted earlier than usual.
Weather disruptions in key producing belts have aggravated the situation.
Heavy, unseasonal rain in parts of Maharashtra, particularly the Nashik-Ahmednagar belt, as well as in areas of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, has affected standing crops and delayed the arrival of the kharif harvest.
The fresh crop, which normally eases supply pressure by late August, is now expected to arrive only around October.
Storage losses have added to the problem.
Persistent humidity and monsoon moisture in warehouse centres have caused deterioration and rotting, reducing the quantity of onions that can actually be sent to the market even where stocks exist on paper.
Traders and wholesalers are also being closely watched amid allegations that they are holding back stock in anticipation of further price gains. In major trading centres such as Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, wholesale prices have risen sharply. The wholesale increase has subsequently been passed on to consumers.
The combination of depleted rabi stocks, delayed kharif arrivals, storage losses and restricted market arrivals has therefore created a supply squeeze.
For Keralam, which depends substantially on supplies from outside the state, developments in the major producing states directly affect local prices.
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With prices having risen, the CPI(M) cyber activists turned their guns on the government’s onion market intervention, questioning whether bringing in 100 tonnes of onions can actually make a dent in prices.
The posts sarcastically questioned whether such a small quantity could significantly affect prevailing market prices.
The posts also took a swipe at what they described as the tendency to defend government decisions irrespective of their practical impact, suggesting that political loyalties often take precedence over logic.
The criticism came even as the government maintains that the procurement and subsidised sale of onions are part of its efforts to contain the price rise and provide immediate relief to consumers.
The wholesale prices on September 11 across the state in ₹ per kg terms were:
Kasaragod – 56
Kannur – 62
Wayanad – 60
Kozhikode – 60
Malappuram – 64
Palakkad – 60
Thrissur – 60
Ernakulam – 65
Idukki – 65
Kottayam – 58
Alappuzha – 60
Pathanamthitta – 68
Kollam – 65
Thiruvananthapuram – 65
The average price of onion in the state on September 11 was ₹62.
Meanwhile, the central government has sold nearly 4,000 tonnes of onions from its buffer stock across 17 cities during the first 10 days of a subsidised retail initiative to bring down sharply rising prices.
Trucks and a dedicated railway service called the “Kanda Express” are moving onions in bulk from major producing states to consumption centres. The onions are being retailed at a subsidised price of ₹35 per kg in price-sensitive cities.
(Edited by Majnu Babu and R Rajesh Kumar.)
