The Union Cabinet is planning to discuss a proposal for extension of the distribution of subsidised imported edible oils scheme at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.
The scheme which was formally launched on August 2008 by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar provided for distribution of 1 million tonnes of imported edible oils during 2008-09 at a subsidy of Rs 15 per kg through PDS as per demand received from states and union territories. Each ration cardholder was entitled for 1 kilogram of edible oil every month at cheap rates. The oil was imported by state-run trading agencies like STC, MMTC and PEC.
However, the scheme failed to take-off in the right earnest because by the time it was formally started, global and local edible oil prices had softened considerably, virtually making its sale unviable for the states.
Response from the states didn?t improve even after Centre granted an additional subsidy of Rs 10 per kilogram prompting it to close the scheme by March 2009. As per agriculture ministry data, till february orders for import of around 3.60 lakh tonne edible oils were placed against a target of distribution of 1 million tonne oil. States like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Sikkim , Nagaland and Rajasthan showed interest in distribution of the scheme, while the rest didn?t participate.
Meanwhile, sources said the government was planning to extend the scheme for subsidised distribution of imported edible oils was meant to quell any inflationary expectation arising out of unsatisfactory monsoon.
