The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution on Wednesday said major edible oil brands have lowered prices by Rs 10-15 per litre as the government made timely interventions on multiple fronts to control prices that spiked due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The wholesale prices and retail prices of vanaspati, soyabean oil, sunflower oil and RBD palmolein have decreased over the week. With the edible oil prices beginning to show a downward trend and are set to decline further, the Indian consumers can expect to pay less for their edible oils, the ministry said in a statement.

“The falling edible oil prices will help in cooling the inflation as well”, said Secretary Department of Food and Public Distribution Sudhanshu Pandey.
"All major edible oil brands have cut prices by 10-15 rupees," Pandey said.
He also added, “this has been possible due to constant monitoring by the department, constant engagement with all stakeholders and multiple interventions by the government.”

According to sources, the MRP of Fortune Refined Sunflower Oil 1 litre pack has been decreased to Rs 210 from Rs. 220. The MRP of Soyabean (Fortune) and Kachi Ghani oil 1-litre pack is decreased from Rs 205 to Rs 195. The reduction in oil prices comes in the wake of the Central Government reducing the import duty on edible oils making them cheaper.

In a bid to control the continuous rise in the cooking oil prices over the past year, the Central Government had earlier cut the basic duty on Crude Palm Oil, Crude Soyabean Oil and Crude Sunflower Oil from 2.5 per cent to Nil. The Agri-cess on these Oils has been brought to 5 per cent.
The basic duty on Refined Soyabean oil and Refined Sunflower Oil has been slashed to 17.5 per cent from the current 32.5 per cent and the basic duty on Refined Palm Oils has been reduced from 17.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent. The Government has extended the free import of Refined Palm Oils for a period up to the end of this calendar year.

"Timely interventions taken by the Government along with cutting down of import tariff on soyabean oil and sunflower oil and the removal of an export ban by Indonesia has made an enabling environment for edible oil companies to cut retail prices," the ministry said.

"More price reductions can be expected as the global supply improvements and the operationalisation of the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) start reflecting on the landed cost of crude edible oils. The recent decision of the Government to reduce the excise duty levied on petrol and diesel has further helped in cooling down the prices of all commodities," it also added.

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