Centre holds meeting to discuss ways to ensure availability of edible oil at reasonable prices

New Delhi: The central government on Monday (May 24) held a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss ways to address the issue of stability of edible oil prices.

The discussion was aimed at coordinating efforts to ensure the availability of edible oils at reasonable prices.

The meeting was attended by officials from the Department of Food & Public Distribution, Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Consumer Affairs and officials of states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Other stakeholders including producers of edible oil seeds, millers, stockists and wholesalers were also present.

“It was important to understand the issues that are contributing to price rise and discuss the same with all the stakeholders so that appropriate strategies can be formulated to address the issue of edible oil prices,” said the Secretary of Food & Public Distribution Department.

Notably, the production and domestic availability of oilseeds in India fall way short of the needs of the domestic demand for edible oil. A big volume of edible oil is imported each year.

The central government said that they were concerned about more than a proportionate rise in the prices of edible oil in India as compared with the rise in international prices of edible oil during the last few months.

“The mission ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ requires the country to be self-sufficient in edible oils. Dependency of almost 60% on imports is not appropriate to the growth of edible oil industry in India,” the Secretary said.

He added that the states and stakeholders from the business side must take all possible steps to soften the prices.

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