A week after the Union Food Ministry diktat, oil prices have eased marginally in the wholesale market. Groundnut oil price eased from ₹ 187.93 to ₹ 187.5 between July 6 and July 12, Vanaspati which was ₹ 161.49 on July 6 was quoted at ₹ 160.22. Only palm oil eased a wee bit more from ₹ 144.16 to ₹ 142.29.
“The situation is way better than last year when we bought palmolein oil for ₹ 160 a litre. Now it is ₹ 138 per litre in the wholesale market. Our margins are decent,” says Manotosh, showing an oil sachet of a little-known brand. He runs an exclusive small samosa outlet in Hyderguda and uses four litres of oil per day.
But for retail consumers and food businesses, the prices have not eased substantially. In the retail market the branded palmolein oil was retailing at ₹ 185 per litre, groundnut oil was retailing between ₹ 174 and ₹ 190, while sunflower oil was retailing between ₹ 188 and ₹ 178.
According to news agencies, major brands were asked to cut the price of the oil products by ₹ 10 in the retail market as the global prices have eased over the past month. “We will tell them to pass on the benefits of reduction in global prices to consumers,” Food Secretary Sudhanshu Mishra was quoted as saying on the sidelines of a meeting called for the specific purpose.
But there has been no substantial change according to the data from Department of Consumer Affairs. Vanaspati was quoting at 20.09% over last year’s price, sunflower oil was 11.88% in the same period and palm oil was 8.84% higher than last year in the same time.
Oil prices have surged in Indian retail market since the outbreak of war in Ukraine and global concerns about production of palmolein oil. Coupled with this, some countries like Indonesia have barred export of palmolein oil creating uncertainty in the market.
