AP to supply palm oil at Rs 45 a litre

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday launched the sale of palm oil at a subsidised rate of Rs 45 a litre in Andhra Pradesh through the public distribution system.

Though a nationwide scheme, 23 state have agreed to sell palm oil at reduced prices.

Pawar said the government was concerned about the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities globally, particularly in India, and the move was an attempt to absorb the price shocks to an extent. Palm oil is available in the market for about Rs 65 a litre. The Centre would extend a subsidy of about Rs 1,500 crore for making the edible oil available through the fair price shops.

The government has already made a provision of Rs 25,000 crore for the Rashtriya Krishi Vignan Yojana and another Rs 5,000 crore for the National Food Security Mission. The minimum support price (MSP) for rice has been increased by 55 per cent and for wheat by 52 per cent in the last four years.

“The proposal for revising the MSP (to Rs 1,000) for paddy has been referred to the Prime Minister's economic advisory committee,” he said.