Food Inflation In India: In response to a question asked on inflation during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the inflation rate is decreasing and now it is within the tolerance band of RBI. Has arrived. The Finance Minister told the House that the government has taken several steps to meet the shortfall in the supply of perishable food items. On the rise in the prices of pulses, the Finance Minister said that India does not produce pulses in sufficient quantity due to which there is a shortage in the supply of pulses but the supply of pulses is being increased by importing.
Rajya Sabha MP M Tambi Durai had asked questions to the Finance Minister regarding the inflation of pulses, vegetables and spices and various actions taken by the government to stop it. The Finance Minister said, inflation is coming down and now the retail inflation rate has come within the tolerance band. The Finance Minister said that the government has taken many steps to stop inflation and increase the supply of goods. Especially things that get spoiled.
The Finance Minister said, we do not produce pulses in sufficient quantity due to which fluctuations are seen in the prices of pulses. The Finance Minister told the House that the government makes agreements for imports on the basis of crop estimates. The Finance Minister said that in 2023, the government has imported 8.79 lakh metric tons of tur dal and has also imported 15.14 lakh metric tons of lentils. He said that on similar lines, other pulses have also been imported and released in the market.
The prices have started coming down and they are within the tolerance band. Lots of steps have been taken by the government, particularly for meeting the shortage in supply of perishable goods.
Since we don't grow enough pulses in the country and due to a shortfall in supply,… pic.twitter.com/aUJeOWjgVC— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) February 6, 2024
Finance Minister Sitharaman said that the government is selling chana dal at Rs 60 per kg and a 30 kg bag is being sold at Rs 55 per kg. He said that till January 30, 2024, 2.97 metric tons of chana dal has been sold and chana dal is available at cheap prices in the retail market. To provide relief from expensive onion, the Finance Minister said that till February 3, 2024, the government has released 3.96 lakh metric tonnes of onion in the market at the price of Rs 25 per kg. Besides, restrictions on onion import have been changed so that onion prices can be controlled. The government has also taken steps to control tomato prices.
The Finance Minister said that the government has taken cognizance of the problems faced by the shortage of food items which get spoiled and are not produced in India. The government committee keeps reviewing it continuously and the result is that inflation has now come within the tolerance band.
Actually, due to the rise in prices of food items including greens and vegetables, the retail inflation rate in December 2023 was 5.69 percent. Food inflation rate has been 9.53 percent which was 8.70 percent in November. In December, the inflation rate of pulses reached 20.73 percent while the inflation rate of vegetables was 27.64 percent.
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