GUWAHATI: Ahead of the festive season, the price of mustard oil in Guwahati along with the rest of India witnessed an abnormal price rise, breaking the kitchen ceilings of commoners.
Notably, this time, the record rise in mustard oil prices range from Rs. 5 to Rs. 35 has again added salt to the wounds of households already struggling with less purchasing power due to reduced earnings or job losses.
As per market reports, the Sunflower brand of mustard oil rose to Rs. 20 per litre, Dhara brand of mustard oil rose to Rs. 15 per litre, Gokul brand of mustard oil rose to Rs. 10 per litre while Anupam and Engine brand of mustard oil rose to Rs. 6 per litre respectively.
Speaking to the media, one of the retailers from Dibrugarh, said that 3-4 days ago, the price of ordinary Mustard oil per litre was Rs. 142, however, today it stands at Rs 148 at the wholesale rate. Further, he added that the price of mustard oil has gone up by Rs. 7-8 while for refined oil, the price went up by Rs. 5 respectively.
Reacting to the ongoing crisis of mustard oil a consumer said, "Yesterday, I bought a litre of mustard oil for Rs. 150 but today it's Rs. 160, just see the difference in one day."
"It's Eid time and if the price of commodities shoots up like this then you only tell me how can we celebrate or even invite people to our home," he added.
Notably, inflation in the country has been a cause of concern with food inflation rising by 8 per cent. Prices of edible oils have been a cause of concern with all prices trading near the Rs 160-170 per litre in the retail markets. With Indonesia banning palm oil, the chances of palm oil prices closing the gap between sunflower and other soya oil prices is now a reality.
An Assamese family of five on average requires five litres of mustard oil a month. "So, it is a straight increase of Rs 200-250 per month only on mustard oil, compared to last year. If you take into account a couple of litres of white oils — soya or sunflower oil — the bill gets higher," said Anindita Saikia, a homemaker from Guwahati.
Since edible oil price is largely determined by soya and palm oils, which are widely used as a cooking medium across the rest of India, the lower import of these two varieties of edible oil left a yawning gap between the demand and supply, spiking edible oil prices across the categories.
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