Lok Sabha Question No. 2520 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-02
Subject: Rise in Food Prices
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: MIDHUN REDDY, RADHESHYAM BISWAS, B.N. CHANDRAPPA

## Government of India

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2520

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.01.2018

## RISE IN FOOD PRICES

## 2520.  SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY: SHRI RADHESHYAM BISWAS: SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA:

## 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 it is true that prices of essential commodities including vegetables and fruits are on the rise and set to rise further in the country, if so, give details thereof;
- (b) whether it is true that the Government has set up Price Monitoring Cell (PMC) to give suggestion on the pricing of essential commodities;
- (c) if so, the details of the role and responsibilities of the PMC;
- (d) whether it is also true that prices of some of the essential commodities were monitored by PMC, if so, the details thereof for the last two years;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  received  all  the  necessary  information  on  the  price  trends  and availability of essential food items during the last 3 years, if so, the details thereof, year-wise; and
- (f) the details of measures taken to check price rise of essential commodities?

## 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) :   Prices of essential commodities including vegetables and fruits, as reflected by the All-India Inflation rates, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI),  in recent  months are provided at Annexure-I .
- (b) to (e) : The Price Monitoring Cell (PMC) in the Department of Consumer Affairs monitors retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential commodities including cereals (rice and wheat), pulses (gram, arhar, urad, moong and masoor dal), vegetables (potato, onion and tomato), edible oils (groundnut, mustard, vanaspati, soya, sunflower and palm oil) & others (atta, milk, sugar, tea, gur and salt). PMC disseminates these price information online on its website  at http://fcainfoweb.nic.in/pmsver2/reports/report\_menu\_web.aspx , for public  access.  PMC  also  provides  policy  inputs  based  on  these  prices  to  the  highest  levels,  including Committee of Secretaries, Inter Ministerial Committee etc.  to facilitate appropriate policy intervention. The requisite details of prices trends of 22 essential food items are at Annexure-II .
- (f) :    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.  Besides,  Government  is  also  implementing  schemes  like Price  Stabilization  Fund  (PSF),  etc.  to  help  moderate  the  volatility  in  prices  of  agri-horticultural commodities and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) for promoting production of horticultural products.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2520 FOR 02.01.2018 REGARDING RISE IN FOOD PRICES.

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## All-India Inflation rates (%)

## A) Based on Consumer Price Index (Base 2012=100)

| Commodity                        | 2017      | 2017    | 2017         |
|----------------------------------|-----------|---------|--------------|
| Commodity                        | September | October | November (p) |
| Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) | 1.25      | 1.90    | 4.42         |
| Fruits                           | 5.07      | 5.05    | 6.19         |
| Vegetables                       | 3.92      | 7.54    | 22.48        |

Source: Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation

## B) Based on Wholesale Price Index (Base 2012=100)

| Commodity    | 2017      | 2017    | 2017         |
|--------------|-----------|---------|--------------|
| Commodity    | September | October | November (p) |
| Food Article | 2.04      | 4.3     | 6.06         |
| Fruits       | 2.93      | 3.96    | 4.19         |
| Vegetables   | 15.48     | 36.61   | 59.8         |

Source: Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (b)  to  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2520 FOR 02.01.2018 REGARDING RISE IN FOOD PRICES.

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## ALL INDIA DAILY AVERAGE PRICES

| Items                  | Daily Average Retail Price (₹/Kg)   | Daily Average Retail Price (₹/Kg)   | Daily Average Retail Price (₹/Kg)   | Daily Average Retail Price (₹/Kg)   | Daily Average Wholesale Price (₹/Qtl   | Daily Average Wholesale Price (₹/Qtl   | Daily Average Wholesale Price (₹/Qtl   | Daily Average Wholesale Price (₹/Qtl   |
|------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Items                  | Price As On                         | 1 Year Ago                          | 2 years Ago                         | 3 Years Ago                         | Price As On                            | 1 Year Ago                             | 2 years Ago                            | 3 Years Ago                            |
| Items                  | 28-12- 2017                         | 28-12- 2016                         | 28-12- 2015                         | 26-12- 2014                         | 28-12- 2017                            | 28-12- 2016                            | 28-12- 2015                            | 26-12- 2014                            |
| Rice                   | 30.04                               | 28.38                               | 27.19                               | 28.06                               | 2662.58                                | 2547.58                                | 2424.61                                | 2512.78                                |
| Wheat                  | 23.9                                | 24.6                                | 22.93                               | 22.54                               | 2122.8                                 | 2212.59                                | 2050.71                                | 2004.62                                |
| Atta (Wheat)           | 26.49                               | 27.32                               | 24.4                                | 24.11                               | 2325.7                                 | 2399.34                                | 2174.03                                | 2076.25                                |
| Gram Dal               | 74.69                               | 122.74                              | 68.68                               | 45.52                               | 6756.64                                | 11412.34                               | 6308.88                                | 4049.56                                |
| Arhar Dal              | 73.63                               | 109.04                              | 149.31                              | 75.94                               | 6665.92                                | 9958.82                                | 14083.89                               | 7087.04                                |
| Urad Dal               | 75.57                               | 110.39                              | 141.13                              | 77.96                               | 6832.56                                | 10027.27                               | 13343                                  | 7161.3                                 |
| Moong Dal              | 73.98                               | 81.35                               | 106.22                              | 98.04                               | 6731.01                                | 7268.01                                | 9892.82                                | 9184.09                                |
| Masoor Dal             | 62.22                               | 79.19                               | 86.79                               | 72.49                               | 5528.89                                | 7099.05                                | 8023.19                                | 6713.49                                |
| Sugar                  | 42.02                               | 40.74                               | 32.11                               | 34.02                               | 3880.78                                | 3804.39                                | 2957.25                                | 3119.42                                |
| Milk@                  | 42.18                               | 40.1                                | 39.1                                | 37.49                               | 3930.67                                | 3643.02                                | 3631.32                                | 3486.05                                |
| Groundnut Oil (Packed) | 126.63                              | 135.75                              | 124.83                              | 116                                 | 11969.44                               | 12613.13                               | 11709.14                               | 10877.44                               |
| Mustard Oil (Packed)   | 106.72                              | 113.07                              | 112.01                              | 99.51                               | 9845.18                                | 10314.19                               | 10339.2                                | 8954.6                                 |
| Vanaspati (Packed)     | 79.13                               | 78.14                               | 71.1                                | 74.83                               | 7295.12                                | 7125.58                                | 6491.37                                | 6777.74                                |
| Soya Oil (Packed)      | 87.51                               | 85.47                               | 81.55                               | 82.69                               | 8077.03                                | 7876.13                                | 7500.26                                | 7514.27                                |
| Sunflower Oil (Packed) | 94.51                               | 94.68                               | 95.74                               | 93.55                               | 8767.96                                | 8787.57                                | 8901.69                                | 8537.06                                |
| Palm Oil (Packed)      | 72.94                               | 70.81                               | 62.52                               | 64.9                                | 6792.66                                | 6588.96                                | 5816.96                                | 6074.25                                |
| Gur                    | 45.01                               | 43                                  | 38.87                               | 39.6                                | 4029.04                                | 3821.46                                | 3443.83                                | 3504.02                                |
| Tea Loose              | 205.43                              | 199.75                              | 204.01                              | 206.91                              | 18337.92                               | 17733.11                               | 18340.27                               | 19193.22                               |
| Salt Pack (Iodised)    | 15.08                               | 14.97                               | 15.03                               | 14.51                               | 1265.75                                | 1235.51                                | 1267.89                                | 1250.42                                |
| Potato                 | 15.38                               | 15.47                               | 15.16                               | 21.44                               | 1118.12                                | 1134.6                                 | 1176.93                                | 1670.49                                |
| Onion                  | 42.68                               | 14.92                               | 23.1                                | 26.46                               | 3500.86                                | 1106.88                                | 1863                                   | 2164.67                                |
| Tomato                 | 26.47                               | 14.6                                | 27.54                               | 21.44                               | 2053.26                                | 1079.62                                | 2192.91                                | 1611.84                                |

@: ₹/ltr. Source:-State Civil Supplies Department *****