ONGOLE: The State government selling cooking oil at rythu bazaars from June 5 has compelled retail traders to bring down the prices of various brands as well. Rythu bazaars were provided cooking oil stocks through e-Vikraya Corporation, a special purpose vehicle of APMARKFED's e-Farmmarket initiative.
"Until sometime ago, departmental stores were selling a litre packet of sunflower oil for Rs 245-250 citing Ukraine-Russia war. Now they are selling the same product for Rs 187, which is the price at rythu bazaars," I Jayalakshmi, a housemaker in Ongole, said.
For Ongole, Vijaya Oil was chosen for implementation of e-Farmmarket, and the company has equipped the farmers’ markets in the town with four varieties of oil--groundnut oil, rice, palmolive and sunflower.
The rythu bazaars are selling the cooking oil products of the Vijaya brand for Rs 20 to Rs 35 lesser than in the retail shops. "Despite selling only 60-65 per cent of our cooking oil stocks so far, wholesalers and retail traders have also decreased the selling prices of such products by up to 15-18 per cent," he said.
Assistant director-marketing KVN Upendra Kumar told The New Indian Express on Sunday. "We are going to start a store near the district collectorate where 12 essential commodities will be sold," Upendra Kumar added.