Centre to review on Monday actions taken by states on the stock limit order on edible oils
New Delhi, Oct 24 (FN Agency) With high edible oil prices continuing to pinch consumers in the festive season, the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) will hold a meeting with states on Monday to review the actions taken on the stock limit order on the key kitchen item. Besides suggesting a slew of measures to calm down prices, the Centre this week directed states to prohibit millers, whole-sellers, refiners and other stakeholders from holding the stocks of edible oil in excess of two months of the storage capacity.
“The DFPD is monitoring the prices of edible oils and their availability to consumers. This is especially important in the context of the upcoming festival season in which the demand for edible oils will increase,” said an official statement from DFPD. It noted that various steps have already been taken by the government like based on the interaction with all the states and edible oil industry associations, stock disclosure notification has been issued and DFPD has created a web portal to monitor the stock of edible oils/oilseeds on a weekly basis in the country. “Demand and consumption of edibles are different for the different states/UTs as per the preference of the consumers. However, for finalizing the stock limit quantity of edible oils and oilseeds, the states/UTs may consider/explore the previous stock limit imposed for edible oils and oilseeds by the state/UTs.
It may be considered that any stakeholder (refiners, miller, wholesalers etc.) should not hold the stocks in excess of two months of the storage capacity,” the DFPD told states this week in a letter. For guidance, it stated, states may prefer to indicative limits which may have been imposed by them earlier. “However, for other categories similar quantities as appropriate for the state may be fixed. For example: for refiners, stocks of the maximum of 2 months of the average sale of the last six months could be used. Similarly, quantities may be fixed for extractors/millers, it said.