TNCCI urges Centre to control rising food inflation

MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCCI), Madurai, has appealed to the Union government to control retail inflation, which rose to 6.52 per cent in January this year due to rising prices of essential commodities and a hike in repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India.

Inflation is a complex phenomenon, N Jegatheesan, president, TNCCI, Madurai, said on Saturday, adding that moderate inflation is good for the economy, but if it goes beyond the limit, it will only create a catastrophic situation for the economy. Hence, it’s very important to ensure that inflation is under control.

Trade and industry has been badly hit as the prices of essential commodities, including milk, rice, wheat, flour, pulses and cereals have increased by about five to 15 per cent last month. Moreover, due to a decline in the production of essential commodities and the delay in offloading of bulk wheat stocks, there is a shortage of the commodities and its prices continue to rise, Jegatheesan said.

Food price inflation, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 5.94 per cent in January from 4.19 per cent in December last year. Inflation on food grains has also increased from 13.79 per cent in December to 16.12 per cent in January 2023.

The prices of staples like pulses have increased by around 10 per cent to 15 per cent now despite the abundance of new crops in the market.

The trade and industry as well as the general public were greatly affected due to inflation and rise in prices of essential commodities.

Citing these, the TN Chamber urged the Union government to take protective measures such as banning export of essential commodities like pulses, grains and oils to improve domestic consumption, to increase supply of commodities in the domestic market by reducing the duty on imports of maize and reducing the duty on petrol and diesel to pass on the benefits to the consumers to bring down the inflation level.