VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy sought to reduce import duty on mustard oil in the wake of shortage of cooking oil. He wrote letters to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal in this regard.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said mustard oil was similar to sunflower, and there was an import duty of 38.5 per cent on crude mustard oil and 45 per cent on refined mustard oil. He said those tariffs were an impediment to imports and that the import tariff on castor oil should be reduced for at least a year in view of the plight of consumers.
The Chief Minister, in his letter, said in 2021-22, the country consumed 240 lakh metric tonnes of cooking oil, of which only 40 per cent was domestically produced and the rest had to be imported. About 95 per cent of the cooking oil imported was palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and 92 per cent from sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia. "The situation in Ukraine and Russia has led to a sudden shortage of cooking oil in the world, which has had an impact on consumers," he said.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said this had led to an increase in the prices of sunflower and other cooking oils. Two-thirds of the people in the state used sunflower, followed by palm oil at 28 per cent and peanut oil at 4.3 per cent. He said the state government had already taken steps to ensure uninterrupted supply of cooking oil in the market. He further said the vigilance, civil supplies and weights and measures departments had carried out extensive inspections and cracked down on violators.
He explained that a taskforce had also been set up to supply cooking oil without shortage and to review prices on a daily basis and take action accordingly. "We are also holding regular meetings with manufacturers, importers and refiners," he said.
The Chief Minister said that AP government was selling oils at reasonable prices at Rythu Bazaars through AP Oilfed. He stated that the AP government was creating awareness among consumers about the use of other cooking oils.
