There Will Be Relief From Inflation In Edible Oils

There will be relief from inflation in edible oils, the government is preparing to reduce import duty, decision may be taken soon.

Some concrete measures are likely to be taken soon to stop the inflation of edible oils, which is spoiling the budget of the common consumers.

A decision on this may be taken next week in the proposed meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to control the prices of consumer goods.

Among the possible measures, reduction in the import duty of edible oils is the most comfortable and natural option that can be considered. In view of these speculations, a stir in the domestic edible oil market has also started.

The rise in the prices of edible oils globally has not only affected the domestic market, but has also affected the production of oilseeds during the Rabi season.

Along with this, the price of mustard oil has increased a lot due to the abolition of the exemption given to adulteration of other edible oils in mustard oil.

There will be relief from inflation in edible oils: The price of mustard oil, which was Rs 120 per kg in June, 2020, has become Rs 170 per kg at present.

The price of soy oil has increased from Rs 100 to Rs 160 and palmolein oil from Rs 85 to Rs 140. More or less the prices of other edible oils have increased on the same lines.

In view of these problems of inflation of common consumers, the government can take concrete steps soon.

According to sources, there is every possibility of taking an appropriate decision on this issue in the meeting of the GoM. Such a proposal can be made by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

This initiative of the government has reached the commodity market.

Suresh Nagpal, president of the Central Organization for Oil Industry and Trade (Coet), said that due to rumors of a cut in customs duty, prices have broken in the market.

In just one day, soybean has fallen by Rs 7 and mustard oil by Rs 5 to 6 in futures deals. Nagpal said that with the initiative of the government, there can be a reduction of up to 10 percent in edible oils.

The fact is that till 1994-95 only 10 per cent of the domestic consumption was imported edible oil. But now about 65 per cent of the total requirement of edible oils is being met by imports.

The Indian market currently requires 25 million tonnes of edible oils annually, of which over 15 million tonnes have to be imported.

45 lakh tonnes of soybean oil, 7.5 million tonnes of palm oil, 2.5 million tonnes of sunflower oil and five lakh tonnes of other oils are imported into the country.

In the year 2020-21, a total of 366 million tonnes of oilseed crops have been produced in the country. In this, groundnut is 10.1 million tonne, soybean 134 million tonne and mustard about 10 million tonne.

But it is not possible to meet the requirements of edible oils with such a yield. This is the reason that the fluctuations in prices at the global level have a direct effect on our kitchen.