NEW DELHI: With hardly any success in bringing down the prices of edible oils despite the recent major cut in import duty and agricultural cess, the government is now pinning its hopes on states and Union territories to fix the stock limits quickly and enforce it strictly. So far, only Uttar Pradesh has imposed a stock limit while Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan are in the final stages of fixing the limit.
Another nine states have already initiated the process, which is aimed at putting a check on hoarding and artificially jacking up prices of the edible oil. The food ministry on Monday held review meeting on the stock limit issue with states and Union territories representatives.
The data collated by the consumer affairs ministry shows that groundnut, soya and sunflower oils were selling at Rs 182, Rs 155 and Rs 169 a litre respectively on Monday. The prices were the same a month back, prior to the major reduction in import duty. The average price of mustard oil has increased to Rs 185 a litre compared to Rs 183 a month back. Similarly, palm oil was selling at Rs 133 a kg on Monday, an increase of Rs 2 over last month.