Importers are looking at alternative sources for edible oil as sunflower oil supplies from Ukraine have been affected by the war.

Data showed the prices of several edible oils have spiked amid concerns over spiralling prices ramping up inflation and drilling a hole in the kitchen budget.

Retail prices of groundnut oil have increased to Rs 179.12 per litre from Rs 164.49 a year ago, according to the consumer affairs ministry.

Mustard oil prices rose to Rs 189.32 from Rs 145.70, vanaspati oil to Rs 149.15 from Rs 117.22, soya oil Rs 157.49 from Rs 125.49, sunflower oil Rs 166.33 from Rs 153.69 and palm oil Rs 148.10 from Rs 121.45.

Imports meet 60 per cent of the country’s demand for edible oil, with the annual shipment at around 13 million tonnes.

Sources said a high-level inter-ministerial task force had asked different ministries to identify alternative sources to fill the gap.

The country plans to increase supplies from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Since we import palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, efforts need to be made to augment supplies from these countries. Soyabean oil is mostly supplied by the South American countries which can also be a source of sunflower oil,” the sources said.

“India’s import of sunflower oil is a little more than 1.5 million tonnes, any gap in supplies can put a further strain on prices that have already been shooting up since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.”

The government is also looking to address existing import restrictions, including plant quarantine requirements .

“Bringing down import duties on different varieties of edible oil is also under consideration,” the sources said

Rating agency Crisil said “nearly 10 per cent of India’s edible oil consumption is sunflower based, of which 90 per cent is imported from Russia and Ukraine.

“An extended war could disrupt supplies to domestic oil mills, which typically carry an inventory of 30-45 days and have limited options to change their sourcing at short notice”.