Onions at just Rs 27/kg? Subsidised supplies set to hit streets soon—5 key takeaways

1 kg Onion Price in India: The central government has once again decided to release subsidised onion supplies to safeguard consumer interests. Under this initiative, onions -- a staple in Indian households -- will be sold at a fixed price of Rs 27 per kilogram (kg). This move is expected to bring relief to crores of consumers nationwide.

Here are five key things to know about the subsidised onion sale:

• The sale begins on Thursday, September 4.
• Supply vans will offer onions at a fixed rate of Rs 27 per kg.
• Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will flag off the vans to launch the drive.
• The initiative is being executed in collaboration with food cooperatives NAFED and NCCF.
• The Department of Consumer Affairs regularly conducts such interventions -- from subsidised sales to stock limits -- to control consumer costs of essential items like vegetables and grains.

The department counters hoarding and speculative pricing through various measures, while also monitoring daily prices via its reporting centres to decide on market interventions.

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Inflation, food inflation, RBI and interest rates

This initiative comes at a time when inflation has eased to an eight-year low of 1.55 per cent in July, with food items showing deflationary trends.

Food inflation was negative at 1.76 per cent, with rural and urban readings at 1.74 per cent and 1.90 per cent, respectively -- the second straight month of deflation after June, largely due to falling vegetable and pulse prices.

The RBI now projects overall consumer inflation for the current financial year at 3.1 per cent, down from 3.7 per cent before its August review.

The central bank tracks consumer inflation data primarily to formulate its monetary policy.