PIB | 22 Jun, 2022
The
wholesale prices and retail prices of vanaspati, soyabean oil,
sunflower oil and RBD palmolein have decreased over the week. With the
edible oil prices beginning to show a downward trend and are set to
decline further, the Indian consumers can expect to pay less for their
edible oils. The falling edible oil prices will help in cooling the
inflation as well, said Secretary Department of Food and Public
Distribution, Sudhanshu Pandey on Wednesday.
“All
major edible oil brands have cut prices by 10-15 rupees,” Pandey
said.
He added that this has been possible due to constant monitoring by
the department, constant engagement with all stakeholders and multiple
interventions by the government. According to sources, the MRP of
Fortune Refined Sunflower Oil 1 litre pack has been decreased to Rs. 210
from Rs. 220.
The MRP of Soyabean (Fortune) and Kachi Ghani oil 1 litre
pack from Rs. 205 to Rs. 195. The reduction in oil prices comes in the
wake of Central Government reducing the import duty on edible oils
making them cheaper.
Partha
S Das, Joint Secretary, DFPD added that in the surprise inspections
conducted in Maharashtra Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka in phase-I and Phase-II at
156 and 84 entities respectively.
He said these inspections had a
deterrent impact as number of defaulting entities decreased in the
Phase-II of the surprise inspections. In Phase-I, 53 entities and
Phase-II, 12 entities inspected were found to be defaulting on the
Central Stock Control Order.
The concerned State Governments have been
requested to take suitable action under the Essential Commodities Act,
1955 against the defaulting entities as per provisions made in the Act.
However, while taking suitable action, the State Governments have been
requested to ensure that the supply chain is not affected in an adverse
fashion.
In
its latest initiative to ease the prices of Edible Oils and provide
relief to the consumers, the Government has issued Notification for
allocation of Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for import of 20 LMT of Crude
Soyabean Oil and 20 LMT of Crude Sunflower Oil for the financial year
2022-23 and 2023-24 at zero import duty and zero AIDC.
This has been
done keeping in view the rising domestic prices of Edible Oils, average
increase in domestic demand and uncertainty/decline in Global Palm Oil
availability.
It
may be recalled that in a bid to control the continuous rise in the
cooking oil prices since past one year, the Central Government had
earlier cut the basic duty on Crude Palm Oil, Crude Soyabean Oil and
Crude Sunflower Oil from 2.5% to Nil.
The Agri-cess on these Oils has
been brought to 5%. The basic duty on Refined Soyabean oil and Refined
Sunflower Oil has been slashed to 17.5% from the current 32.5% and the
basic duty on Refined Palm Oils has been reduced from 17.5% to 12.5%.
The Government has extended the free import of Refined Palm Oils for a
period upto 31.12.2022.
Further,
stock limits on edible oils and oilseeds have been imposed for a period
up to 31st December 2022 for ensuring the smooth availability of edible
oils and oil-seeds in the country.
In order to ensure strict
enforcement of the control order, Central teams from the Department of
Food & Public Distribution were deputed to conduct surprise
inspections of the stocks of edible oils & oilseeds held by
Retailers, Wholesalers, Big Chain Retailers and Processors in major
oilseed producing/consuming States to prevent hoarding and profiteering.
All
the above timely interventions taken by the Government along with
cutting down of import tariff on soyabean oil and sunflower oil and the
removal of export ban by Indonesia has made an enabling environment for
edible oil companies to cut retail prices.
More price reductions can be
expected as the global supply improvements and the operationalisation of
the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) start reflecting on the landed cost of
crude edible oils. The recent decision of the Government to reduce the
excise duty levied on petrol and diesel has further helped in cooling
down the prices of all commodities.
The
price situation of the above commodities is being closely monitored on
day-to-day basis so that appropriate timely measures may be taken to
keep a check on their prices. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on
Agri-Commodities chaired by Secretary (Food) which is in place closely
monitors the prices and availability of agricultural commodities keeping
in view the interest of the farmer, industry and consumers.
The
committee reviews price situation on weekly basis, consider relevant
measures in relation to edible oils and other food items depending on
the domestic production, demand, domestic and international prices and
international trade volumes.
The
timely interventions and measures by the Government as and when needed
has had a cumulative effect on controlling the prices of these essential
commodities and ensured that the prices remain stable and interest of
consumers are protected.
The
Secretary also talked about One Nation One Ration Card which is now
being implemented across the country. He said that so far since August
2019, total portable transaction reported were over 71 crore. Subsidy
worth more than 40 crore has been distributed through portable
transaction.
He
said that the Department has created a robust central database to store
79 crore ration cards which the Government of India may utilize to
formulate future policies and programmes for benefit of the public.
This
database can be used in deepening implementation of Ayushman Bharat, PM
Kisan scheme, for Ministry of Labour. Adding on he said that the
Department has deleted 4.74 crore ration cards which were found bogus.