Bhubaneswar: Apprehending fall in in import of edible oil from Russia and Ukraine, the two major suppliers, due to the ongoing war, the state government has instructed the district collectors to take necessary steps against hoarding and black-marketing of the product.
Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain on Friday said India’s edible oil market mostly depends on import of edible oil with 80% of sunflower oil being procured from Ukraine and Russia. Since the two countries are engaged in war which may escalate in days to come, he expected an unreasonable hike in the prices of edible oil.
Keeping this in view, Swain instructed departmental officials and district collectors to take steps to prevent black marketing and hoarding so that uninterrupted supply of edible oil can be ensured.
The department has also sent a letter to the district collectors in this regard. The letter stated that due to present
international events, the price of imported edible oil like Sunflower and Palmolein shows an upward trend in the domestic market for the last couple of days. It is also apprehended that availability of sunflower oil may be hampered as large quantities of sunflower oil is imported.
Taking the advantage of the situation, the traders may resort to unfair trade practices like high profiteering, black marketing and creating artificial shortage in the market.
In order to monitor the availability and price rise of edible oils, the department requested the collectors to convene a meeting of the traders dealing with edible oils, track the source price, wholesale price, retail price by verifying the bills/ vouchers and ensure that it is available to the consumers at reasonable price.
The Civil supplies and Market Intelligence field functionaries may be instructed to inspect both the wholesale and retail business premises on regular basis to track the wholesale and retail price till the normal situation restores, the lettrr added.
