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New Delhi : Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ashwini Kuma Choubey in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on December 15, 2021, informed that the Centre has set up the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to tackle price volatility of identified agri-horticultural commodities such as onion, potato, and pulses to protect the interests of consumers. Buffer stocks of pulses and onion are maintained under PSF for regulated release to help moderate the prices.
Such market interventions by the government not only helps in sending the appropriate market signal but also deter speculative and hoarding activities. Further, the government has issued advisory to States/UTs to set up the State-level Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) corpus with central assistance, and has requested States which have set up the Fund already, to make appropriate interventions for cooling down retail prices of essential food commodities.
In order to stabilise the retail prices of Onion, a buffer stock of 2.08 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) Onion has been built in 2021-22. Open market releases of onion from the buffer have been targeted towards States/Cities where prices are increasing over the previous month and also in source markets to augment the availability in these key mandis and thereby reduce retail prices. States/UTs have been offered onion at Rs 21/kg ex-storage locations and same has been lifted by some States. As on December 9, 2021, altogether 1.41 LMT of Onion quantity has been released from the Buffer stock, according to a PIB release.
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare implements the scheme, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which financial assistance is provided for various horticulture activities including setting up of cold storages for perishable horticultural produce through State Governments. Further, the National Horticulture Board (NHB) implements a scheme namely, Capital Investment Subsidy for construction/Expansion/ Modernisation of Cold Storages and Storages for Horticulture Products. Under the Operation Greens Scheme of Ministry of Food Processing Industries, grants-in-aid are provided for setting up of Value Chain Development Projects including Cold Storages, the Minister said.