Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra

Cuttack: Steady rise in the price of edible oil has become a cause of concern for the consumers in the State. As per market study, the average prices of all edible oils - groundnut, mustard, vanaspati, soyabean, sunflower and palm oil - have increased up by Rs 20-30 over the last few months.

While the price of palm oil has witnessed a surge from Rs 85 to Rs 105, the price of sunflower oil has increased from Rs 110 to 130. Similarly the price of dalda oil has climbed from Rs 100 to Rs 120. The price of Mustard oil has also skyrocketed from Rs 110 to Rs 140.

Experts are of the view that consumers might have to dig deeper into their pockets as the wholesalers are predicting the price of cooking oil may rise further in near future.

“Covid-19 has hit our livelihood hard. It's becoming even difficult to make both our ends meet during this period. Making things worse, the prices of all the edible oils have shot up by 20-30%. We are in a helpless situation,” said a customer in Cuttack.

“Rising prices of edible oil has hit new highs due to lower inflow. This has accelerated the inflation in the market. People are staying more at home due to the Covid-19 crisis and the demand of edible oil is too high. However, the supply is not up to the mark due to the expensive imports from the international market. The price rise is because of the imbalance between the supply and demand,” stated Binod Chandra Sahu, the president of Malgodown Retail Business Association.

Praphulla Chhatoi, Secretary of Cuttack Chamber of Commerce said, “The price of diesel has risen by Rs 10 per litre. It has added to the increasing transportation cost, which is one of the major reasons for increase in the price of cooking oil."

scrollToTop