Patanjali Foods will soon reduce the prices of palm, sunflower, soybean oil by Rs 10-15 per liter
New Delhi:
A top company official said Patanjali Foods Ltd will soon cut prices of soybean oil, sunflower oil and palm oil by Rs 10-15 per liter to take advantage of the fall in global prices.
Earlier this month, the food ministry had directed edible oil companies to reduce prices of edible oil in line with the fall in global rates.
Mother Dairy has reduced the prices by Rs 14 per liter and Adani Wilmar by Rs 30 per liter following the Centre’s directive.
“We are going to reduce the prices of palm oil, sunflower oil and soybean oil by Rs 10-15 per liter in a day or two. But in the last 45 days the total reduction will be Rs 30-35 per litre.” Patanjali Foods CEO Sanjeev Asthana told PTI.
The effective reduction in the last 45 days, including the proposed Rs 10-15 per liter cut, will reach Rs 30-35 per litre, he said, adding that its rivals have not made the same cut in the last one-and-a-half years. month.
Asthana highlighted that global prices have come down by 15-20 per cent, but added that the market is very volatile.
Patanjali Foods, formerly Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, sells its products under brands such as Ruchi Gold, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Nutrella, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Sunlight.
It is also into oil palm plantations and the renewable wind power business.
In 2019, Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved acquired Ruchi Soya, now Patanjali Foods, for Rs 4,350 crore through an insolvency process.
A Marico Ltd spokesperson said the company recently revised the prices but did not provide any details.
“As one of India’s leading consumer products company, Marico Limited has always been committed to ensuring the best prices and quality for our consumers across India. We have recently launched our new range of edible oils to pass on the benefits to the consumers. The portfolio has revised its prices downwards,” said a spokesperson for the company, which owns the Saffola brand.
The spokesperson further added, “We are cognizant of the recently issued government directive, and will continue to follow their guidelines to provide the best service to our consumers in terms of price reduction in the coming months.” India meets 60 per cent of its domestic requirement through imports. The country imported around 13 million tonnes of cooking oil during the marketing year 2020-21 ending October.
In the past one year, the Center has taken several measures to reduce the prices of edible oil, including several rounds of reduction in import duty.