Odisha may start feeling the pinch of a steep rise in crude and edible oil prices due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, fear several traders' associations in the State.
The daily consumption of edible oil, especially palm and sunflower oil, in the State will be severely hit as the price is likely to increase by Rs 20 per litre in the coming days, said Prafulla Chhatoi, secretary of Malgodown traders' association.
"We import sunflower in huge quantity from Ukraine. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has severely hit supply and the price of edible oil is expected to rise by Rs 20 per litre in our State," said Chhatoi.
Meanwhile, the prices of petrol and diesel are also expected to rise in a few days. According to PTI, the price hike is likely to come next week to bridge the gap of Rs 9 per litre created by the increase of USD 100 per barrel in international oil prices.
"For the time being, oil companies have not yet changed the price mechanism. But on any day after March 8, the oil marketing companies may move towards a revised fuel price revision mechanism," said general secretary of Indian petrol dealers' association, Sanjay Lath.
As per the data from the Petroleum ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the basket of crude oil India buys surged beyond USD 102 per barrel on March 1, reaching its highest level since August 2014, PTI said.