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Our Bureau

Hyderabad, July 28 In a bid to provide a cushion to the people in the wake of soaring inflation, the Union Government has decided to supply palm oil through the public distribution system (PDS).

Mr Sharad Pawar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies, launched the national programme here on Monday by formally distributing palm oil packets to a group of women.

The Minister, who was to start the scheme at Tandur in Mahboobnagar district, could not reach the place because of incessant rains.

The Centre has allocated a subsidy of Rs 1,500 crore on edible oil for distribution across the country. Andhra Pradesh was the first State to approach the Centre to get this benefit.

“We have taken a multi-pronged approach. While banning all exports of oil seeds, we have reduced duties on imports in order to bring down the prices. The budgetary loss on this count is Rs 5,000 crore. Besides, we have decided to import one million tonnes of edible oil for the PDS,” Mr Pawar said.

The Centre is giving a subsidy of Rs 15 a kg, while the State added Rs 9 more to offer palm oil at Rs 45.

Addressing a news conference earlier, Mr Pawar said the soaring prices of essential commodities were a global concern.

“The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations had organised a meeting where Agriculture Minister of 160 countries and Prime Ministers of 40 countries took part to discuss the crisis,” he said.

Mr Pawar said the issue of MSP (minimum support price) for paddy was being considered by a committee set up by the Government. “The MSP for paddy has gone up by 59 per cent against the growth of 10 per cent in the erstwhile Government,” he said.

Despite the increase of prices in the open market, the Government had not increased the PDS prices.

“We are still maintaining the levels of 2002,” he added.

More Stories on : Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Economy | Andhra Pradesh

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