Sandip Das, Financial Express Journalist Profile

Articles

Food inflation plunges to 40-month low

1 week ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

Retail food inflation eased for the five consecutive months to 2.69% in March compared to 3.75% in February, as prices of vegetables, pulses and spices declined with winter harvest arriving in the markets. The consumer food price index (CFPI) declined by 0.86% sequentially last month compared to February. In March last year, the food inflation rate was 8.52%. The food inflation rate for March 2025 is the lowest since November 2021, when it was reported at 1.87%.
IMD forecasts “above-normal” monsoon for second year in a row

1 week ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday forecast “above normal” monsoon rainfall during June-September this year, with 89% chance of the rains being in the “normal-to excess” range. In terms of regional distribution, the met department said ‘above-normal’ rainfall is expected over most parts of the country with the exception of northeast, parts of Bihar and Tamil Nadu.
Cooking oil imports from Nepal surge

1 week ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

With unusually high import of soybean oil via Nepal this year, the domestic edible oil industry has urged the government to restrict import through fixing a monthly quota regime, to curb the flow of cheap cooking oils. “The government needs to impose some monthly quota for imports of edible oils from Nepal so that zero import duty under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is not abused,” BV Mehta, executive director, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), told FE.
State’s cropping system, economically & ecologically unviable: Punjab eco survey

1 week ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

The Punjab government’s Economic Survey 2024–25 warns that the state’s rice–wheat cropping pattern, coupled with free electricity, has led to severe groundwater depletion and rendered the model economically and ecologically unsustainable.
Farmers' collectives boost business via ONDC, e-NAM & GeM platforms - Economy News

1 week ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

The country’s farmer new producer organisations (FPOs) have made headway in boosting their business via official platforms like Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), electronic national agriculture market (e-NAM) and the government e marketplace (GeM).The commercial gains from trading in agriculture inputs like fertilisers, pesticides and varieties of seeds, under a government licensing programme, are also helping them to grow.
MSP purchases of oilseeds, pulses sluggish

1 week ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

As the arrivals of rabi crop peak, the mandi prices of mustard and chana are firmly ruling around minimum support price (MSP) leading to sluggish procurement by government agencies. Trade sources told FE that the market prices of mustard at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, the hub of the wholesale trade in oilseed variety was quoted at Rs 5974/quintal against the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5950/quintal for 2024-25 rabi season.
Edible oil imports fall 15% in March

2 weeks ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

India’s edible oil imports declined sharply by 15% on year to 0.97 million tonne (MT) in March, primarily due to decline in palm oil imports. In the first five months of the oil year (November – March), cooking oil imports declined by over 2% to 5.63 MT, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) stated on Friday. In the first five months of the current oil year, palm oil import sharply decreased by 31% to 2.41 MT.
Relief for seafood and rice exporters

2 weeks ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

India’s seafood exporters have got a relief after a 90 days pause on US’s reciprocal tariff of 26% with lowering of the duty to 10%. This has put India’ seafood exports at par with its competitors including Ecuador in the US market. Exporters said the reciprocal tariff of 26% from items from India would have hit the seafood exports to US just at the beginning of the season, as the farmers started preparation for the cultivation of shrimp, which constitute the biggest chunk of shipment.
Why India needs non-tariff barriers in agricultural trade

2 weeks ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

The National Trade Estimate Report of the United States has raised concerns that non-tariff barriers by India make it near impossible to export dairy and poultry products besides staple grains such as rice and wheat.
Skymet predicts normal monsoon, with sluggish start

2 weeks ago | financialexpress.com | Sandip Das

Private weather forecaster Skymet on Tuesday projected a ‘normal’ southwest monsoon season (June-September), with the cumulative rainfall of 103% of the benchmark long period average (LPA), boosting the hope of robust kharif crop. The agency has seen are around 80% change of monsoon rains to be in the range of ‘excess’ to ‘normal’ this season. The forecast comes with a model error of +/- 5%.