Kanda Express With 840 Tonnes of Onions Reaches Chennai

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.