Lok Sabha Question No. 1754 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-06
Subject: Price Rise of Essential Commodities
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: SADASHIV KISAN LOKHANDE, KURUPPASSERY VARKEY THOMAS, PARAYAMPARANBIL KUTTAPPAN BIJU

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1754 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.03.2018

## PRICE RISE OF ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES

1754.  SHRI SADASHIV LOKHANDE: PROF. K.V. THOMAS: DR. P.K. BIJU: (OIH)

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC  DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether despite efforts being made by the Government to control prices of essential commodities including  sugar,  edible  oils,  foodgrains  and  vegetables,  the  price  of  these  commodities  are continuously increasing which is creating a big gap between the rates of price increase and percapita income, if so, the details of prices of essential commodities including foodgrains, edible oil, sugar and vegetables during the last three years in the open market;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to take necessary steps to provide more power to the price monitoring  regulatory  authority  to  improve  the  availability  of  essential  commodities  and  to control their prices;
- (c) whether it  is  true  that  the  prices  of  essential  food  items  are  rising  continuously  due  to  which common consumers are not able to buy food items in adequate quantity;
- (d) the retail inflation in the month of December, 2017 and the extent to which it has successfully been reduced at present, the details thereof; and
- (e) the steps taken/being taken to check the price rise?

## ANSWER

miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) :  Details are at Annexure .
- (b) : The price trends and availability of select essential food items are monitored on regular basis at the highest levels, including by Committee of Secretaries, Inter Ministerial Committee etc. for appropriate policy intervention.
- (c)  :  Prices  are  determined  by  various  factors  such  as  demand-supply  mismatch,  weather  conditions affecting production and availability, seasonal fluctuations in market arrivals, increase in transportation costs, supply chain constraints, etc. As on 28.02.2018, the all India daily average retail prices as reported by State Food Civil Supplies Departments were lower for some of the food items like sugar, groundnut oil, mustard oil, sunflower oil compared to the prices year ago while it was higher for some other items like rice, wheat, vanaspati oil, soya oil, palm oil, potato, onion and tomato.

## ORIGINAL IN HINDI

- (d)  :  All  India  inflation  rate(%)  based  on  Consumer  Price  Index(CPI)  and  Consumer  Food  Price Index(CFPI), brought out by M/o Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) are as under:

Base 2012=100

| Month &Year       |   CPI |   CFPI |
|-------------------|-------|--------|
| November, 2017    |  4.88 |   4.35 |
| December, 2017    |  5.21 |   4.96 |
| January, 2018 (P) |  5.07 |   4.7  |

(P): Provisional

(e)    :  Government  has  taken  various  measures  from  time  to  time  to  stabilize  prices  of  essential  food items which, inter-alia, include appropriately utilizing trade and fiscal policy instruments like import and export  duty,  Minimum  Export  Price,  export  restrictions,  etc.  to  regulate  domestic  availability  and moderate  prices;  imposition  of  stock  limits;  and,  provision  of  higher  Minimum  Support  Prices  to incentivize  farmers  for  increasing  production.  Government  is  implementing  Mission  for  Integrated Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH),  for  production  and  productivity  improvement  of  horticulture crops  including  fruits  and  vegetables  through  various  interventions.  Besides,  Government  is  also implementing Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) scheme to help moderate the volatility in prices of agrihorticultural commodities like onion, potato and pulses.

*****

ANNEXURE STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED ESSENTIAL

## QUESTION NO.1754 FOR 06.03.2018 REGARDING PRICE RISE OF COMMODITIES.

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## All India Daily Average Price (in Rs/kg)

| Commodities            | Daily Average Retail Price   | Daily Average Retail Price   | Daily Average Retail Price   | Daily Average Retail Price   | Daily Average Wholesale Price   | Daily Average Wholesale Price   | Daily Average Wholesale Price   | Daily Average Wholesale Price   |
|------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Commodities            | Price As On                  | 1 Year Ago                   | 2 years Ago                  | 3 Years Ago                  | Price As On                     | 1 Year Ago                      | 2 years Ago                     | 3 Years Ago                     |
| Commodities            | 28-02-18                     | 28-02-17                     | 28-02-16                     | 27-02-15                     | 28-02-18                        | 28-02-17                        | 28-02-16                        | 27-02-15                        |
| Rice                   | 30.37                        | 28.23                        | 27.19                        | 27.42                        | 2717.39                         | 2540.61                         | 2444.3                          | 2460.65                         |
| Wheat                  | 24.35                        | 24.08                        | 24.89                        | 23                           | 2158.98                         | 2159.09                         | 2214.21                         | 2058.44                         |
| Sugar                  | 41.08                        | 41.97                        | 33.48                        | 33.07                        | 3804.94                         | 3934.58                         | 3106.94                         | 3030.81                         |
| Groundnut Oil (Packed) | 126.7                        | 132.54                       | 123.37                       | 118.9                        | 11938.24                        | 12366.29                        | 11659.95                        | 11058.61                        |
| Mustard Oil (Packed)   | 107.62                       | 108.95                       | 109.29                       | 100.54                       | 9845.39                         | 9962.99                         | 10138.27                        | 9228.72                         |
| Vanaspati (Packed)     | 79.77                        | 77.15                        | 73.81                        | 76.44                        | 7295.07                         | 7079                            | 6882.26                         | 7023.11                         |
| Soya Oil (Packed)      | 88.26                        | 86.48                        | 80.23                        | 84.42                        | 8178.46                         | 7954.68                         | 7501.7                          | 7753.29                         |
| Sunflower Oil (Packed) | 94.06                        | 94.56                        | 93.79                        | 95.25                        | 8695.8                          | 8809.54                         | 8910.6                          | 8870.51                         |
| Palm Oil (Packed)      | 74.43                        | 71.62                        | 64.03                        | 67.64                        | 6927.9                          | 6667                            | 6074.53                         | 6291.32                         |
| Potato                 | 15.24                        | 13.32                        | 15.83                        | 16.98                        | 1100.95                         | 943.64                          | 1276.13                         | 1243.04                         |
| Onion                  | 32.84                        | 14.45                        | 18.27                        | 24.95                        | 2640.79                         | 1072.39                         | 1455.23                         | 1977.46                         |
| Tomato                 | 18.16                        | 15.45                        | 17.85                        | 19.2                         | 1294.15                         | 1139.71                         | 1408.68                         | 1408.27                         |

Source:-  State Civil Supplies Departments.