Bringing some relief to Indian kitchens, the retail prices of refined sunflower oil, refined soyabean oil and refined palmolien have fallen by 29 per cent, 19 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, in the last one year.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said the central government is "closely monitoring the domestic retail prices of edible oils to ensure that the full benefits of a decrease in international prices are passed on to the end consumers".
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She informed that regular meetings are being held with leading edible oil associations and industry, and they are being advised to decrease the retail prices in line with falling international prices.
"As on July 20, 2023, the international prices of major edible oils such as crude soyabean oil, crude sunflower oil, crude palm oil and refined palm oils have decreased drastically since last year.
"Due to continuous efforts made by Government, the retail prices of refined sunflower oil, refined soyabean Oil and RBD palmolien have decreased by 29.04 per cent, 18.98 per cent and 25.43 per cent, respectively, over a year," the minister said.
To control and ease the prices of edible oils in the domestic market, the central government in the last two years has reduced import duty on crude as well as refined edible oils several times.