Nizamabad: Hike in edible oil prices, common man hit badly

Nizamabad: Edible oil prices are going up even in the cold season and Diwali. Three days ago, the Union Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies said that the prices of six types of cooking oils had gone up by 53 per cent this year as compared to October last year. The prices of edible cooking oils are constantly rising and this is causing uncertainty to the people as a whole.

The common man seems to be struggling as the prices of daily necessities increases along with the edible cooking oil. In just a year, oil prices have risen 63 per cent at retail. Experts say that this has resulted in an average increase of 123 per cent in the household budget, which has become a burden on the lives of the Nizamabad & Kamareddy district. The fact is that the impact of the price hike up to crores of rupees a year in Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts alone is a testament to the severity of the situation. Around 593234 lakh households seems to be struggling due to hike in edible oil price hike in erstwhile Nizamabad district. 127,696 households are living in urban and 465,538 are in rural areas as per 2011 census of India.

Nizamabad district has a population of 2,551,335 as of 2011 census out of which 1,250,641 are male and 1,300,694 are female. Literate people are 1,389,810 out of which 790,214 are male and 599,596 are female. According to trade sources, the average daily sales of all types of cooking oils in erstwhile Nizamabad district is around 135 tonnes. Major cities like Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Armor, Banuswada, Balakonda and Bodhan alone account for 57 per cent of the total consumption.

Sales of all types of oils like sunflower, groundnut, palm oil etc are estimated to be around Rs 12.35 crore per day on an average. At present, the average price of oil is Rs 150 per kg. Groundnut oil is priced at Rs 170 per kg. In October last year, ground nut oil was sold for Rs 90 and sunflower oil for Rs 82, a wholesaler said. "I have been in the oil business for the last 25 years but have never seen such a hike in prices like last year in my experience," said a wholesale dealer in Nizamabad.

According to business sources, the price of oil, which was Rs 90 per kg a year ago, is now Rs 150 per kg. This cost difference should be considered as an additional burden on each family.

The additional burden on the people has increased. Each family consumes 2 to 4 liters of edible oil per month. The additional burden on the family is based on the size of the family. Most of the joint families reside in Bodhan, Nizamabad and Kamareddy and these families have to spend an additional Rs 7000 per month on cooking oil.

If a small family spends Rs 5,000 a year on oils till last year, now with the increase in prices this 2021, the family has to spend an additional Rs 20,000. Food and Public Distribution Secretary Sudhansh Pandey has written a letter to the States asking them to reduce oil prices as Diwali is approaching. Finally, the price of the oil used to light the lamp is skyrocketing to Rs 110 per liter.