'Next CCEA meet to decide on duty hike of refined edible oil'

The government is considering a duty hike of refined edible oil and the decision in this regard will be taken in the next CCEA meeting, Food Minister K V Thomas said today.

"There is a suggestion to keep the difference between refined and crude edible oils to 10% or 7.5%. The next CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) meet will take the decision on raising the duty.

"The CCEA meeting will be held only after the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) returns," Thomas said on the sidelines of a CII  conference on 'Building Warehousing Competitiveness - 2013'.

On the high onion price, the minister said the traders are taking advantage of the situation where there is a shortage.

The rains have also restricted supply of onion from Maharashtra, he said.

"Traders are taking undue advantage of shortage...But we don't have any plan to abruptly ban exports. The government this time has a stable policy. Instead of putting a blanket ban, we are putting curbs to control export," he added.

Talking about wheat, he said the foodgrain is well accepted in the global market for its good quality. However, the global wheat prices have now come down in a range of $260-280 per tonne.

"A committee of secretaries (Commerce, Agriculture, Finance and Food) are studying the situation and will take the right decision in the matter of cutting down MEP," he added.

Thomas also said there is a strong need to ensure sufficient warehouses to ensure that the grains reach the intended targets.

"For this, we will need space to store over 85 million tonnes of grain by 2014," Thomas said, adding that the government had space for 55 million tonnes in 2009, and today, it has only at 78 million tonnes.

Thomas further said warehousing is an important sector in the context of implementing the food security, which Act the government adopted earlier this year.

The Minister urged entrepreneurs to take up the task of building warehouses, even though it was not lucrative enough.

"Warehouses should have the support of government and I believe banks give out special loans for building warehouses because as an industry, we have to grow and India needs more warehouses," he added.

He further said the government is considering to allow village panchayats to build intermediate warehouses, which will bring storage areas close to the recipients.