Edible oil prices have come down by over 2%: Centre

New Delhi, Sept 17: In good news for consumers, the Centre on Friday said that the daily wholesale prices of edible oil have dropped by over two per cent following reduction in the standard rate of duty.

A web portal is being created to take stocks of edible oil weekly, it said, to keep prices under check.

As per the latest figures, the prices of packed palm oil have dropped by 2.50 per cent, seasame oil by 2.08 per cent and coconut oil by 1.72 per cent.

Princes of coconut oil have, similarly, come down by 1.72 per cent, packaged groundnut oil by 1.38 per cent, sunflower oil by 1.30 per cent and packed mustard oil by 0.97 per cent.

The prices of vanaspati oil have come cooled down by 0.71 per cent and packed soya oil by 0.68 per cent, said a government statement.

The cooling down in the wholesale price follows the Centre’s decision to cut import duties, the latest one coming on September 10.

The retail price touched historic highs since the beginning of this year owing to the drying up of supplies from the major edible oilseed producing nations. India meets 60 per cent of its domestic edible oil requirements through imports.

The government statement said that to ensure transparency, the Department of Food and Public Distribution is in the process of creating a web portal for monitoring the stocks of edible oils/oilseeds every week in the country.

The data on the portal will be submitted by millers, refiners, stockists and wholesalers etc. States have also issued directions for the display of retail prices prominently to ensure fair pricing.

The decision is the outcome of the interactions with all the states and edible oil industry associations, it added.