Firoz Rozindar

Bengaluru: The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia is expected to have a severe impact on edible products, mainly the oil in the global market, and India will also be hit by that, the experts said.

According to the sources, India is one of the major importers of sunflower oil as it purchased this edible oil from Russia and Ukraine.

While Ukraine exports around 17 lakh tonnes to India, Russia exports around 2 lakh tonnes of sunflower oil.
The experts said that so far, the war has not made a significant impact on India, but hoarding has already started in the market. The price of oil has already increased by nearly Rs. 15/litre in the retail market. Curiously, while the prices of sunflower oil are not much affected, the prices of other edible oils have increased in the Indian market.

The whole dealers of edible oil are saying that the prices have gone up because of the war. They said that in the coming days, the price of sunflower oil is also expected to rise significantly.

The rising oil prices are leading to panic buying among the consumers as they are buying oil tins more than their normal needs fearing that the prices may go up significantly. The State and Central Government is saying that as of now, the prices are under control in the country.

Ukraine is a big producer of sunflower seed oil and corn. Ukraine accounts for 10 per cent of the world's wheat exports.

Meanwhile, besides common people, the hotels and restaurants will be facing the heat after the rise in prices of edible oil.

“ Our very business depends on oil as we prepare different types of Pakodas. We have already increased the prices of each plate of Pakoda to Rs. 25 which was Rs. 10 till four years ago. Now, if the prices of edible oil increase, we will be forced to increase the prices of Pakoda'', said Suleman Kudagi, one of the Pakoda sellers.