According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), to provide relief to consumers, many major edible oil companies, like Adani Wilmar and Ruchi Soya, have reduced the maximum retail price (MRP) of their products by 10-15 per cent.
The prices have been reduced by Adani Wilmar (on Fortune brands), Ruchi Soya (Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Gold, and Nutrella brands), Emami (Healthy & Tasty brands), Bunge (Dalda, Gagan, and Chambal brands) and Gemini (Freedom sunflower oil brands), it said. COFCO (Nutrilive brands), Frigorifico Allana (Sunny brands), Gokul Agro (Vitalife, Mahek, and Zaika brands) and others have also reduced prices.
The leading members of edible oil have responded proactively and reduced MRP on edible oils marketed by them across the board by 10–15 per cent to provide relief to consumers during the festival season.
With a view to providing relief to consumers, Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey called a meeting of industry leaders a few days back and requested that they respond positively to the reduction in import duties which the government had announced.
The industry body said it is hopeful the New Year will bring happier tidings for consumers with expectations of a large domestic mustard crop coupled with softening international prices in coming months.
The SEA further said that the inflated price increase in edible oils during the last few months on account of high international prices was unnerving for domestic consumers as well as policymakers. To rein in the price of edible oils, the government has reduced import duties on both refined and crude edible oils several times this year.
The last reduction on import duty was made by the government on December 20, when the basic customs duty on refined palm oil was brought down to 12.5 percent from 17.5 percent till the end of March 2022. To boost supplies, the government has allowed traders to import refined palm oil without a licence for one more year till December 2022, and the market regulator has banned the launch of new derivative contracts for crude palm oil and a few other agricultural commodities.
According to the SEA, India’s dependence on imports of edible oils is nearly 65 percent of the total consumption of about 22–22.5 million tonnes. The country imports 13–15 million tonnes annually to bridge the gap between demand and domestic supply. Because of the pandemic, imports have been reduced to nearly 13 million tonne.