Lok Sabha Question No. 1144 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-22
Subject: Price Rise of Essential Items
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: HARIOM SINGH RATHORE, NEELAM SONKER, MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE, HARI NARAYAN RAJBHAR, SANKAR PRASAD DATTA, (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, ASADUDDIN OWAISI, ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE, FAIZAL P.P. MOHAMMED, FAIZAL P.P. MOHAMMED, C. MAHENDRAN, S.P. MUDDAHANUMEGOWDA

## Government of India Department of Consumer Affairs

## ORIGINAL IN HINDI

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1144

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.11.2016

## PRICE RISE OF ESSENTIAL ITEMS

1144.  SHRI  HARIOM  SINGH  RATHORE:  SHRIMATI  NEELAM  SONKER:  SHRI MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE:  SHRI  HARINARAYAN  RAJBHAR:  SHRI  SANKAR PRASAD  DATTA:  ADV.  JOICE  GEORGE:  SHRI  ASADUDDIN  OWAISI:  SHRI ASHOK  MAHADEORAO  NETE:  MOHAMMED  FAIZAL:  SHRI  RABINDRA KUMAR JENA: SHRI C. MAHENDRAN: SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA:

(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  there  is  steep  rise  in  prices  of  essential  food  items  like  pulses,  flour,  milk, spices, fruits,  potato,  tomato  and other vegetables in the recent months and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether hoarding, black marketing and poor storage facilities are responsible for the price rise and if so, the manner in which the Government plans to address the issue of price rise of essential commodities;
- (c) whether the Government plans to set up a Price Stabilization Fund/Market Intervention Fund to curb the increasing rise in prices of essential commodities and if so, details and the likely impact thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  wide  gap  in  wholesale  and  retail  prices  of essential commodities including pulses, fruits and vegetables and if so, the manner in which the Government plans to reduce the gap between wholesale price and retail price of these commodities along with the details of corrective action taken thereon; and
- (e) whether the Government is planning to fix maximum selling margin by putting a cap on arbitrariness in margins for essential commodities including fruits and vegetables and if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be implemented?

## 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 of rate of increase in prices for food items as per the latest wholesale Price Index released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is at Annexure.

(b) : The various factors affecting prices and availability of essential food commodities, inter alia, include  hoarding,  black  marketing  and  infrastructural  constraints  like  lack  of  sufficient storage  facility.  To  address  the  price  rise  of  essential  food  items  Government  has  taken measures like  allowing  imports  of  pulses  and  onions  at  zero  duty,  banning  export  of  pulses with some exception, using Minimum Export Prices on some food items as and when required, allocating pulses at subsidised rates to States/UTs, etc.; In addition, Central Government has also  authorised  States/UTs  to  impose  stock  limits  from  time  to  time  in  the  case  of  select essential commodities such as pulses, edible oils and edible oilseeds and issued advisories to them  to  enforce  stock  limits  and  send  reports  of  quantity  and  value  of  stock  seized. Government has also set up a Group of Officers involving enforcement agencies for regular monitoring and exchange of information on hoarding, cartelization, etc.

(c)  :   Government  has  set  up  Price  Stabilization  Fund  (PSF)  scheme  to  tackle  inflationary trends  of  important  agri-horticultural  commodities  like  onion,  potatoes  and  pulses  through market intervention to protect the interests of consumers. Such market intervention initiatives by Government would    not   only    help   send   the   appropriate    market   signal    but   also deter speculative/hoarding activities.

(d)  :  Difference  in  wholesale and retail  price depends on factors such as transportation cost, loading/unloading expenses, grading/shorting, wholesaler's margin, wastages during movement/weighting, location of retail shops, fixed overhead expenses of retailers and margin of retailers etc.

Government has launched National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) on 14th April, 2016 with  the  objective  to  reduce  the  price  gap,  induce  competition  and  transparency  in  sale transactions.

(e)  Under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 State Governments are empowered to control the prices at which any essential commodity may be bought or sold.

*****

## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1144 FOR 22.11.2016 REGARDING PRICE RISE OF ESSENTIAL ITEMS.

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| COMM_NAME                    | Apr-16   | May-16   | Jun-16   | Jul-16   |   Aug-16 |   Sep-16 |   Oct-16 |
|------------------------------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| ALL COMMODITIES              | 0.8      | 1.2      | 2.1      | 3.7      |      3.9 |      3.6 |      3.4 |
| FOOD ARTICLES                | 4.7      | 8.2      | 8.6      | 12.6     |      8.9 |      5.7 |      4.3 |
| FOOD GRAINS (CEREALS+PULSES) | 10.5     | 12.1     | 12.1     | 15.8     |     15.2 |     10.9 |     10   |
| CEREALS                      | 4.2      | 5.9      | 7.8      | 9.2      |      9.5 |      6.8 |      6.1 |
| Rice                         | 1.8      | 3.2      | 4.9      | 6.8      |      7.4 |      4.7 |      4.6 |
| Wheat                        | 5        | 6.9      | 9.8      | 9.8      |     10.3 |      7   |      6.3 |
| PULSES                       | 36.5     | 35.8     | 26.6     | 38.3     |     34.2 |     24   |     21.8 |
| Gram                         | 38.5     | 36.4     | 33.2     | 62.7     |     64.2 |     59.5 |     74.8 |
| Arhar                        | 45.4     | 41.2     | 22.8     | 22.7     |     12.4 |     -3.1 |    -16.2 |
| Moong                        | 9        | 7        | -6.8     | -6.5     |     -9.8 |    -18.3 |    -22.5 |
| Masur                        | 15.7     | 15.3     | 0.8      | 1.8      |     -0.5 |     -6.1 |    -12.3 |
| Urad                         | 59       | 64.9     | 59.1     | 56.6     |     44.1 |     24.4 |      0.7 |
| FRUITS &VEGETABLES           | 0.1      | 7.9      | 11.4     | 22.6     |      7   |      1.6 |     -1.9 |
| VEGETABLES                   | 2.9      | 13.3     | 17.2     | 28.4     |      0.2 |    -10.9 |    -10   |
| Potato                       | 40.8     | 63.8     | 66.1     | 62.1     |     67.2 |     73.3 |     60.6 |
| Onion                        | -17.9    | -21.7    | -28.6    | -36.3    |    -64.2 |    -70.5 |    -66   |
| Ginger(Fresh)                | -25.7    | -23.5    | -32.5    | -36.4    |     -8.3 |     -1   |     -4.8 |
| Tomato                       | NA       | NA       | NA       | NA       |     21.6 |     -3.1 |    -17.9 |
| Cabbage                      | -7.6     | 27.4     | 49.2     | 74.3     |      7   |    -10.7 |    -11.5 |
| FRUITS                       | -1.8     | 3.9      | 6.4      | 17.4     |     13.9 |     14.1 |      6.4 |
| MILK                         | 2.8      | 2.4      | 3.2      | 3.8      |      4.2 |      3.7 |      4.2 |
| CONDIMENTS &SPICES           | 12.3     | 12.8     | 7.9      | 5.2      |      7.2 |      4.3 |      1.7 |
| Black Pepper                 | 9.6      | 11.6     | 7.1      | 3.3      |      2.7 |      1.4 |      0.2 |
| Chillies(Dry)                | 34.9     | 32.7     | 26.4     | 23.5     |     23.4 |     14.5 |      8.9 |
| Turmeric                     | 0.7      | -0.1     | -0.1     | 1.5      |      2.3 |     -1.2 |     -1.9 |
| Cardamom                     | -6.9     | -4       | -8.2     | -12.7    |    -13.4 |    -15.1 |    -18.2 |
| Ginger(Dry)                  | -14.3    | -15.5    | -15.2    | -17.5    |    -18.5 |    -18.4 |    -17.4 |
| Betelnut/Arecanut            | 0.3      | -1.3     | -6.2     | -9.6     |     -8.5 |     -8.6 |    -14.3 |
| Cummin                       | 5.8      | 7.7      | 4.5      | 3.9      |     14.9 |     16   |     16.2 |
| Garlic                       | 22.6     | 37.1     | 26.4     | 19.4     |     26.4 |     28   |     33   |
| Corriander                   | -1       | -9.1     | -17.4    | -16.7    |    -17   |    -21.3 |    -23   |
| FOOD PRODUCTS                | 8.7      | 7.7      | 8.9      | 10.7     |     11.9 |     11.2 |     10.5 |
| Wheat Flour ( Atta)          | 4.6      | 4.9      | 8.6      | 11.8     |     14   |     14.1 |     12.4 |