Nizamabad: Ukraine war upsets households' budget

Nizamabad: The Russian attack not only affecting the people of target country Ukraine but also every household of the country in the form of skyrocketing edible oil prices.

Traders in Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts have raised the prices of cooking oil blaming the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The prices of edible oils have gone up by Rs 10 to Rs 20 per liter. The prices of cooking oils had been steadily rising for the past months due to the Covid epidemic but they had been stable for the past few months. Consumers who visited the grocery stores with a list of essential commodities for the month of March, were in for a shock when they saw edible oil prices.

According to one estimate, about 53 lakh liter of cooking oil is consumed for all the needs in Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts. In Nizamabad district, the pre-war MRP of sunflower oil was Rs 135 per liter, palm oil Rs 119 per liter and groundnut Rs 165 per liter. Traders usually sell the edible Rs 10 per liter lower than the MRP printed on the packet.

However, since the war has started they have been charging up to 10 to 25 rupees more per liter of edible oil than the MRP price, saying it is due to war.

The edible oil imported before the war are still in warehouses. Consumers are confused. Whom can they blame for the price hike the Russia or the trader who have hoarded the edible oil stocks and selling the same at the higher price? Consumers allege that traders are illegally inflating the prices of the commodities stored in warehouses. The concerned authorities in Nizamabad Kamareddy district do not care even though the traders are selling edible oils at high prices contrary to the regulations. At present the price of a liter of palm oil is Rs 135. Sunflower oil is selling at a price of Rs 160 a litre. The groundnut oil price was Rs 165 per litre a few days ago and now the MRP has gone up to Rs 175.

The State government is yet to respond and take action to control prices. There is an urgent need for the price control to prevent further deterioration in the living standards of the poor whose livelihoods have been affected by the Covid epidemic, petrol prices and currency notes demonetisation.

Buy if you like

We bought 15 litre tins of palm oil on Thursday morning at the Armoor bus stand. The minimum retail price of palm oil was Rs 2,200 per 15 liter while the trader sold it for Rs 2400. Asked the reason behind the price hike, the trader blamed the war.

G srinish Janardhan Tiffin centre, Armoor, Nizamabad

Edible oil skyrocketed in just four days

Within four days of the Russian-Ukraine war, cooking oil prices had skyrocketed. In the morning I handed over 300 rupees to a trader to buy two liter packets of sunflower oil at Perikit Chowrasta.

I was surprised when the trader asked for another 30 rupees. At the beginning of the third week of February, I bought sunflower oil for Rs 132 per liter.

N.Bhavanapriya, housewife, Armoor