Economy › Agriculture and food
हिन्दी — Read in HindiPrices, procurement and food security
How food is priced, bought and distributed, and how food security is kept.
All 1 article shown; the 1 that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026 are marked.Show only these
Managing food prices through trade policy
Copy link to Managing food prices through trade policyPrelims and Mains
The Centre manages food prices with several tools: customs duty on imports, export restrictions, stock limits under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, open market sales from central stocks and the Price Stabilisation Fund.
- Customs duty cuts work quickly where India depends on imports, as in edible oils, where imports meet about 56 to 60 per cent of demand.
- Such cuts lower returns for domestic growers and can work against missions such as the National Mission on Edible Oils.
What changed
26 Sep 2026Newnewly added
- Ahead of the festival season the Centre cut basic customs duty on crude sunflower oil from 10 per cent to zero.
- Duty on crude soybean and crude palm oil fell from 10 to 5 per cent, and on refined sunflower oil from 32.5 to 22.5 per cent.
- The 2026 monsoon, weakened by a developing El Niño, had added supply risk to the festival season.
Mains: A duty cut calms prices quickly where India depends on imports, but it lowers growers' returns and can work against the National Mission on Edible Oils.