The Hindu Business Line : Prices of essential commodities have not increased: AP Minister

Except for tamarind, there is only a marginal rise in the prices of various commodities, according to the State Minister for Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Dr G. Vijaya Rama Rao.

Making a statement in the Assembly on Thursday in response to a notice given by the Telugu Desam party member, Ms P. Aruna, and others, Dr Rao said that due to low production of tamarind this year, the prices of de-seeded tamarind increased to Rs 60 per kg in September.

Immediately, the State Government had procured tamarind from the State Girijan Cooperative Corporation and also from Chhattisgarh and supplied it through fair price shops at Rs 12 a kg of seeded variety and Rs 25 per kg of de-seeded variety.

The Minister said that the present price of a kg of rice was Rs 14.81 as against Rs 14.73 at the same time last year. Similarly, the ruling price for a kg of redgram stood at Rs 28.20 (last year Rs 27.31). On the other hand, the price per kg of chillies declined to Rs 30.62 (last year Rs 41.36) and of onions to Rs 5.32 (Rs 8.08).

In the case of edible oils, he said, while the price of groundnut oil increased by 7 per cent from Rs 54.44 per kg last year to Rs 54.80, the price of palmolein oil had declined by 6.4 per cent from Rs 45.61 a kg last year to Rs 42.71 per kg at present.

With regard to the rise in prices of petroleum products, the Minister said that apart from global factors, several other aspects operating at the national level were responsible for the price rise.

Though various factors were responsible for the rise in the rate of inflation, he said that the State Government was making all efforts to ensure that prices of essential commodities were within the reach of consumers.

The Telugu Desam Legislature Party expressed concern over the rice in prices of various commodities, especially that of petrol and diesel and demanded that the Government should take steps to reduce the burden of inflation on the common man.

More Stories on : Economy | Andhra Pradesh | Commodities

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page