Lok Sabha Question No. 2791 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-06
Subject: Prices of Essential Food Items
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Shri Dilip Saikia, Shri Chintamani Maharaj, Shri Dharambir Singh, Shri Naba Charan Majhi, Smt. Roopkumari Choudhary, Shri Dineshbhai Makwana, Shri Kanwar Singh Tanwar

## Government of India

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2791

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2025

## PRICES OF ESSENTIAL FOOD ITEMS

2791.  SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

(OIH) SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY:

SHRI CHINTAMANI MAHARAJ:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA:

SHRI VISHWESHWAR HEGDE KAGERI:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

SHRI NABA CHARAN MAJHI:

## Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government monitor price trends of essential commodities;
- (b) the reasons for the increase in prices of essential food items/commodities;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to control price rise of essential food items/commodities so far;
- (d) the  increase  in  the  number  of  commodities  covered  under  the  Price  Monitoring  System  and  the number of Price Reporting Centres in States/UTs during the last ten years;
- (e) the  manner  in  which  the  increase  in  coverage  of  monitoring  of  prices  assists  in  managing  price volatility;
- (f) the date of establishment of the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) and the manner in which the same has helped in stabilizing the prices of essential commodities like pulses and onion; and
- (g) the details of coordination with States to prevent hoarding and black-marketing?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE

## CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L.VERMA)

(a)  to  (c)  :    Department  of  Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution monitors the daily prices of 38 food commodities submitted by the 566 price monitoring centres across the country. As per the data, prices of essential food commodities are stable and under control.

Prices  of  food  commodities  tend  to  be  volatile  as  they  are  affected  by  factors  such  as  seasonality  in production,  adverse  weather  conditions,  supply  chain  disruptions,  artificial  shortages  created  by  hoarding and black marketing, rise in international prices etc. Sometimes slight disruptions in the supply chain or crop damage due to adverse weather condition etc. lead to spike in the 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 prices.

Government keeps a close watch on the production and availability of essential commodities through regular  reviews  by  the  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  (IMC). The  Committee reviews, on regular basis, the situation  of  prices  and  price  trends  of  essential  agri-horticulture  commodities  and  suggests  measures  to enhance availability through increased domestic production and through imports.

In order to tackle the volatility in prices, government maintains buffer stocks of pulses and onion for market interventions through calibrated and targeted release to moderate the prices in the market. Part of the stock of pulses from the buffer were converted to dals for retail sale to the consumers at affordable prices under the Bharat Dal brand during 2023-24 and 2024-25. Similarly, atta and rice are distributed to retail consumers  under  Bharat  brand  at  subsidized  prices.  Onion  from  the  buffer  had  been  released  during September  to  December,  2024  in  a  calibrated  and  targeted  manner  to  moderate  prices  in  high  price consuming centres  at  wholesale  markets  and  through  retail  outlets.  Onions  were  distributed  among  retail consumers at Rs.35 per kg through stationary retail outlets and mobile vans in major consumption centres. These measures have helped in making essential food commodities available to the general consumers at affordable prices and helped in bring down the year-on-year food inflation rate to (-) 1.06% in June, 2025 which is the lowest after January 2019.

- (d) & (e) :   In the past ten year, coverage of commodities under the price monitoring increased from 22 to 38 items and the number of price reporting centres increased from 100 to 566 across States and UTs. The expansion  of  the  coverage  of  price  monitoring  both  in  the  number  of  commodities  covered  and  in  the number of price reporting centres across States/UTs in the past ten years is given in the table below:

| Year    |   No. of Price Reporting Centres |   No. of Commodities |
|---------|----------------------------------|----------------------|
| 2016-17 |                              100 |                   22 |
| 2017-18 |                              101 |                   22 |
| 2018-19 |                              109 |                   22 |
| 2019-20 |                              114 |                   22 |
| 2020-21 |                              135 |                   22 |
| 2021-22 |                              179 |                   22 |
| 2022-23 |                              483 |                   22 |
| 2023-24 |                              550 |                   22 |
| 2024-25 |                              555 |                   38 |
| 2025-26 |                              566 |                   38 |

Expansion in the number of price reporting centres helped in tracking price trends effectively across the  country  with  greater  representativeness  of  the  all-India  average  daily  prices  data.  Expansion  in  the number  of  commodities  covered  ensured  that  prices  of  more  food  commodities  in  the  household consumption  basket  are  captured  under  the  daily  price  monitoring.  Further,  a  more  inclusive  and representative daily prices data provides crucial input for predicting retail inflation.

- (f)  :  Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) scheme was set up in 2014-15 with the basic objective of protecting the consumers from extreme volatility in prices of agri-horticultural  commodities  and  to  make  essential  food commodities available at affordable prices.  Under the PSF scheme, strategic buffer stock of pulses and onion are maintained for calibrated and targeted release to discourage hoarding, unscrupulous speculation and for supplies to consumers at affordable prices.
- (g)   : The Ministry regularly coordinates with State Governments to ensure effective implementation of the  Essential  Commodities  Act,  1955.  States  are  empowered  to  take  action  against  hoarding  and  black marketing  under  this  Act.  During  times  of  supply  chain  disruptions  or  natural  calamities,  advisories  are issued to State Governments to monitor stocks, enforce stock disclosure norms, and take appropriate action under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980. The Ministry also reviews the availability and price situation in coordination with States to take preventive and corrective actions, including imposing stock limits on selected commodities to prevent artificial scarcity and to protect consumer interests

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