Palmolene Might Replace Groundnut Oil In Pds In Gujarat

The Gujarat government is likely to distribute palmolene to the people below poverty line (BPL) under the public distribution system (PDS).

Saurashtra Oil Millers Association (SOMA) in a meeing with Bharatbhai Barot, state minister of civil supplies and public distribution, requested the government to tackle the shortage of groundnut crop in the state by building a buffer stock of groundnut oil. The minister in response indicated the government may stock palmolene instead of groundnut oil.

Sameer Shah of SOMA said the state has not purchased groundnut oil from the open market for the buffer stock so far. This was a clear indication that some other oil would be distributed in PDS.

Usually, the government buys groundnut oil well in advance every year for the buffer stock purpose.

Groundnut production this year was estimated to be around 12/14 lakh tonnes in Gujarat against last year