Lok Sabha Question No. 1337 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Retail Price Inflation
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Suresh Kodikunnil

## Government of India Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Department of Consumer Affairs

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1337 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.12.2022

## RETAIL PRICE INFLATION

1337.  SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

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

- (a) the details of the all-India daily average retail price on items including atta (wheat flour), rice, onion and potato in the country for the last three months between August 2022 and November 2022;
- (b) whether the Government is aware of the fact that the price of atta has become almost equal to that of rice;
- (c) if so, whether the Government has taken any steps to control and ease retail prices of essential food items in the country;
- (d) whether the ongoing global conflict had an impact on the retail price inflation experienced in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details of market intervention to check retail price inflation?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h (श्री अश्विनी क ु मार चौबे)

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) and (e)   : The all-India monthly average retail prices of 22 essential food commodities including atta (wheat flour), rice, onion and potato from September, 2022 to November, 2022 are at Annexure-I .

Prices of agri-horticultural commodities are volatile and tend to get affected by several factors, such as  mismatch  in  demand  and  supply,  seasonality,  supply  chain  constraints,  artificial  shortage  created  by hoarding  and  black  marketing,  rise  in  international  prices,  geopolitical  tensions  etc.  Sometimes  slight disruptions  in  supply  chain  or  damage  due  to  heavy  rains  leads  to  spike  in  prices  of  agri-horticultural commodities. Conversely, bulk arrival and logistics problems have the potential of creating a situation of glut in the market and resultant dip in retail prices.

Government  takes  various  measures  from  time  to  time  to  augment  domestic  availability  and stabilize the prices of essential food commodities. These steps, inter-alia , include releases from the buffer to  cool  down  prices,  imposition  of  stock  limits,  monitoring  of  stocks  declared  by  entities  to  prevent hoarding as also requisite  changes in trade policy instruments like rationalization of import duty, changes in import quota, restrictions on exports of the commodity etc.

In  order  to  manage  the  overall  food  security  of  the  country  and  moderate  prices  of  foodgrains  the Government amended the export policy of wheat from free to prohibited category on 13 th May 2022 for restricting export  of  Indian  Durum  Wheat,  and  from  12 th July,  2022  the  export  of  atta  (wheat)  is  subjected  to  the recommendation of Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on export of wheat. Further, the export of broken rice has been banned and export duty of 20% imposed on non-Basmati rice except for parboiled rice w.e.f. 9 th September, 2022.

To augment domestic availability and moderate the prices of pulses, import of tur and urad have been kept under 'Free Category' till 31.03.2023 and basic import duty on masur has been reduced to zero w.e.f. 27.07.2021, and the Agri-cess on masur import reduced to zero from 13.02.2022 till 31.03.2023. To prevent  hoarding  and  restrictive  trade  practices  in  respect  of  tur  the  Government  on  12 th August,  2022 issued a directive to all the States and UTs to enforce stock disclosure by stockholders of tur under Section 3(2)(h) and 3(2)(i) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and to also monitor and verify the stocks.

Stock of pulses and onion are maintained under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) buffer for market intervention to regulate price volatility and discourage hoarding and unscrupulous speculation. In current year (2022-23), the Government procured a record 2.51 lakh metric tonnes of onion for the PSF buffer and targeted disposal of the stocks to major consumption centres to moderate the prices has commenced from September, 2022.

To control the prices of edible oil, the Government reduced the basic duty on crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower oil from 2.5% to Nil, and agri-cess on these oils has been brought down to 5%. The basic duty on refined soyabean oil and refined sunflower oil has been reduced to 17.5% from the previous rate of 32.5% and the basic duty on refined palm oils has been reduced from 17.5% to 12.5%. The Government has also extended the free import of refined palm oils for a period upto 31.12.2022. In addition to these, the Government has imposed stock limits on edible oils and oilseeds for a period up to 31 st December 2022. Thereafter, the Government exempted the big chain retails and wholesalers of edible oil companies from the stock limit order with effect from 2 nd November 2022 in order to make the supply chain  seamless  amid  easing  global  edible  oil  prices.  The  Government  has  also  issued  notification  for allocation of Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for import of 20 lakh MT of Crude Soyabean Oil and 20 lakh MT of Crude Sunflower Oil for the financial year 2022-23 and 2023-24 at zero import duty and zero agri-cess.

During 2022-23, till date, a total of 2.85 lakh MT of pulses and 1.68 lakh MT of onion from the PSF  buffer  has  been  released  in  the  open  market.  Apart  from  market  disposal,  States/UTs  have  been supplied pulses for welfare schemes. Further, onion from the PDS has been offered at a discounted price of Rs.8/- kg ex-storage location to States/UTs and Government/cooperative retail agencies for supplies to the consumers through retail outlets.

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  to  (E)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1337 FOR 14.12.2022 REGARDING RETAIL PRICE INFLATION

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## All-India Monthly Average Retail Prices of 22 Essential Food Commodities

Rs./Kg.

|   S.No. | Commodities     |   Sep-22 |   Oct-22 |   Nov-22 |
|---------|-----------------|----------|----------|----------|
|       1 | Rice            |    38.07 |    38.1  |    37.97 |
|       2 | Wheat           |    30.84 |    30.83 |    31.38 |
|       3 | Atta (Wheat)    |    35.91 |    36.06 |    36.64 |
|       4 | Gram Dal        |    73.41 |    73.21 |    73.57 |
|       5 | Tur Dal         |   111.32 |   111.73 |   112.74 |
|       6 | Urad Dal        |   108.19 |   108.5  |   108.66 |
|       7 | Moong Dal       |   102.75 |   103.28 |   103.69 |
|       8 | Masoor Dal      |    96.55 |    95.59 |    95.76 |
|       9 | Groundnut Oil   |   191.3  |   191.58 |   192.14 |
|      10 | Mustard Oil     |   177.55 |   174.48 |   176.38 |
|      11 | Vanaspati Oil   |   150.24 |   146.34 |   145.14 |
|      12 | Soya Oil        |   155.34 |   152.7  |   156.64 |
|      13 | Sunflower Oil   |   178.76 |   175.7  |   177.65 |
|      14 | Palm Oil        |   129.96 |   123.28 |   122.54 |
|      15 | Potato          |    27.85 |    28.47 |    28.82 |
|      16 | Onion           |    25.83 |    27.8  |    30.9  |
|      17 | Tomato          |    41.21 |    46.25 |    38.39 |
|      18 | Sugar           |    42.44 |    42.51 |    42.61 |
|      19 | Gur             |    50.66 |    50.98 |    51.11 |
|      20 | Milk (Rs./Ltr.) |    53.6  |    54.42 |    55    |
|      21 | Tea             |   281.19 |   282.05 |   280.21 |
|      22 | Salt            |    20.82 |    21.36 |    21.53 |

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