New Delhi, April 26 -- India, the world's second-largest producer of onions, plans to cut wastage in the 200,000 tonnes of bulbs it aims to procure this season through better storage and reduced post-harvest losses.

This is being done to keep prices of the widely used staple, with a relatively high weightage in consumer inflation, stable.

The central government aims to set a 75% recovery rate for onion procurement under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF), ensuring that onions thus procured result in lower wastage and more efficient utilisation of the fund, two people involved in the process told Mint, requesting anonymity.

This is the third increase in recovery rate in as many years. Last year, the consumer affairs ministry had set the...