Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the Government has taken various measures to keep inflation under control. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said, to check the petrol and diesel prices, Central Government has reduced Central Excise Duty on Petrol by five rupees and on Diesel by 10 rupees with effect from 4th November.  In response many states governments have also reduced Value Added Tax on petrol and diesel.  He said, following this, the retail prices of petrol and diesel have sobered down across the country.<br />''<br />'' Mr Chaudhary informed that price situation of major essential commodities is being monitored by the Government on a regular basis and corrective action taken from time to time. He further added that to soften the prices of edible oils, the import duty have been rationalised and stock limits imposed to avoid hoarding upto a period of March next year. He added that National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm has been approved with a financial outlay of over 11 thousand crore rupees to encourage domestic production and availability of oil palm.<br />