Srinagar,24-Feb; The sale of edible oil in black market allegedly by the traders in many parts of Valley has triggered scarcity of oil amid Ukraine-Russia war .Consumer alleged that they are forced to buy the oil at exorbitant rates. They said that the poor and low middle class people only face hardships.According to the traders, the prices of the edible oils have increased by around Rs 1000 per 15 kg can as compared to the prices in 2021. They said the prices have accumulated throughout the year and they do not expect them to come down soon.“The prices have been increasing gradually since December last year. The prices have been increasing every month. There are labourer problems and hence the supply is getting affected. Also, the fuel prices have increased,” a trader said. He added that there are multiple reasons for the hike in the prices and the biggest of them is the shortage of supply in the international market due to Russia-Ukraine war.Consumers however alleged that traders while taking advantage of ongoing Russia-Ukraine war are rampantly selling oil on more than double price.For the November-October (oil supply year) 2020-21 India had imported a total of 18.93 lakh tonnes of crude sunflower oil. Of this 13.97 lakh tonnes was from Ukraine alone. Argentina (2.24 lakh tonnes) and Russia (2.22 lakh tonnes) are the other major suppliers but as the figures show Ukraine is perhaps the only major supplier to India.It is pertinent to mention that Impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have an impact on India in relation to several products including fuel and edible oils.(CNS)
