Food prices largely stable, edible oils see sharp rise: Government
India’s retail prices for pulses and cereals remained largely stable due to record foodgrain production and adequate government stocks, the Centre said. However, edible oil prices rose sharply because of global markets, while onion prices increased despite lower potato and tomato prices.
The retail prices for pulses and cereals have not varied much during the preceding year primarily due to the increased production of food grains and adequate government stock of food grains, On February 6, the Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs, B L Verma, informed the Parliament.
According to the Minister, in the vegetable sector, potato prices have remained steady while there has been minimum seasonal variation in the prices of tomato and onion.
The Minister also stated that due to the dependence of India on imported edible oils, the prices of edible oils remain sensitive to changes in world market conditions.
According to Verma, the Department of Consumer Affairs monitors the retail prices of 41 food items across the country with the help of 579 price monitoring stations.
Speaking about the price trends of food items, Verma said that the retail prices of pulses and cereals remained stable because of high food grain production reaching the highest level of 3,765.63 lakh tonnes in the year 2025-26 as well as adequate government food stock.
Regarding the price fluctuations of essential food items, the Minister said that the price fluctuations of these items are due to seasonal factors, supply disruptions, and the increase in international prices.
On July 28, it was reported that rice prices had experienced a year on year increase of 5.18 percent, as the retail price reached Rs 44.89 per kg. Wheat flour witnessed a marginal increase of 1.03 percent to stand at Rs 37.14 per kg.
Among various types of pulses, urad dal recorded a 5.46 percent increase, reaching Rs 121.12 per kg, while tur dal price moved up by 2.97 percent reaching Rs 123.09 per kg. masoor dal experienced an increase of 2.21 percent to Rs 90.36 per kg, while the price of moong dal took a slight leap of 0.92 percent to stand at Rs 111.71 per kg.
The highest increase in price was recorded for edible oils. There was a significant increase in the price of packed sunflower oil of 18.03 percent, reaching Rs 189.42 per kg; packed palm oil rose by 14.09 percent to reach Rs 148.50 per kg, while soya oil registered an increase by 11.69 percent to stand at a price of Rs 164.19 per kg.
Groundnut oil made an approximate leap of 9.16 percent reaching a price of Rs 205.73 per kg, while mustard oil experienced an increase of 7.26 percent to Rs 196.44 per kg.
Regarding vegetable prices, the price of onions increased by 25.43% to Rs 35.07 per kg but the prices of potatoes and tomatoes fell more than 11% each.
With respect to other commodities, milk prices went up by 3.12% to Rs 60.89 per litre and egg prices increased by 12.50% to Rs 86.84 per dozen.
According to a minister, the prices and availability, as well as the market trends, of various essential commodities are regularly revealed by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which reviews the trends in the prices of agri-horticulture commodities and makes suggestions for improvements in domestic production along with modifications in the policies related to export-import.
“The government is committed to monitoring the evolving situation and, if required, will take appropriate measures to ensure adequate availability of essential commodities with a view to contain undue price volatility,” Verma said.
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Source : The Economic Times
