Govt cell in place to monitor global prices

Realising the importance of the international commodity market, the government has recently set up a cell under the department of consumer affairs to monitor developments relating to prices and general inflationary trends in the international markets.

The department has hired the services of news agency Reuters to gather data related to international freight charges, commodity prices and the demand-supply situation on a regular basis. This will facilitate the government in planning imports of commodities like pulses and edible oil. It may hire services of more such agencies if required.

“We have made an arrangement with Reuters, under which it will collect data related to international price, freight cost and availability for us. We should be aware of the international commodity scenario,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Yashwant Bhave told Business Standard.

Notably, India is the biggest importer of pulses and also meets about 45 per cent of its 120 million tonnes annual edible oil requirement through imports. The country imports 3-4 million tonnes of pulses annually to meet the gap between domestic output and consumption. Recently, the government also decided to distribute imported pulses and edible oil after subsidising them to consumers. It is targeting a distribution of one million tonnes of edible oil and 400,000 tonnes of pulses during the current year.

In the recent past, the government has also resorted to wheat import to meet the public distribution requirement since domestic wheat procurement was on a decline. Between 2006 and 2007, the government imported 6.8 million tonnes of wheat. A regular flow of data on the international situation will help the government take informed decisions on imports.

A price-monitoring cell dedicated to domestic markets has been operating within the department for the last few years. This cell monitors the wholesale and retail price data and availability trends in fifteen essential commodities, including wheat, rice, pulses, sugar, edible oil and milk.