Retail prices of cereals and pulses have remained largely stable over the past year, helped by record foodgrain production and adequate government stocks, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs B L Verma told Parliament.
Among vegetables, potato prices have stayed remarkably stable, while tomato and onion showed only slight seasonal variation, Verma said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Edible oil prices, however, remained sensitive to global market trends given India’s heavy import dependence, he added.
The Department of Consumer Affairs tracks daily retail prices of 41 food commodities through 579 price monitoring centres across the country, the minister said.
Citing departmental data, Verma said retail prices of cereals and pulses have stayed largely steady over the last year on the back of record foodgrain production of 3,765.63 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 and sufficient buffer stocks with the government.
On price volatility in essential commodities, he noted that agri-food prices tend to fluctuate due to factors such as seasonality in production, supply chain disruptions and rise in international prices.
As of July 28, retail rice prices rose 5.18 per cent year-on-year to Rs 44.89 a kg, while wheat flour edged up 1.03 per cent to Rs 37.14 a kg.
Among pulses, urad dal rose 5.46 per cent to Rs 121.12 a kg, tur dal climbed 2.97 per cent to Rs 123.09 a kg, masoor dal increased 2.21 per cent to Rs 90.36 a kg, and moong dal rose a modest 0.92 per cent to Rs 111.71 a kg.
Edible oils recorded the steepest price increases. Packed sunflower oil rose 18.03 per cent to Rs 189.42 a kg, packed palm oil climbed 14.09 per cent to Rs 148.5 a kg, and soya oil increased 11.69 per cent to Rs 164.19 a kg.
Groundnut oil rose 9.16 per cent to Rs 205.73 a kg, while mustard oil increased 7.26 per cent to Rs 196.44 a kg.
Among vegetables, onion prices jumped 25.43 per cent to Rs 35.07 a kg, while potato and tomato prices declined over 11 per cent each.
Milk prices rose 3.12 per cent to Rs 60.89 a litre, and egg prices increased 12.50 per cent to Rs 86.84 a dozen during the period.
The minister said the government closely tracks prices, availability and market trends of essential commodities through regular reviews by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which assesses price trends and outlook for essential agri-horticulture commodities and recommends measures to boost availability through higher domestic production and adjustments in export-import policy.
“The government is committed to monitoring the evolving situation and, if required, will take appropriate measures to ensure adequate availability of essential commodities with a view to contain undue price volatility,” Verma said.
