Center increased import duty on edible oil. Import duty on both crude and refined edible oils has been increased by 20 percentage points. This decision was informed by the central government on Friday. This decision has been taken to help local farmers get prices, according to the news agency Reuters. Due to this, the prices of palm oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil may increase in the local market. It is feared that the import of edible oil from outside may also decrease due to the increase in import duty. Import duty on crude edible oil has increased from 5.5 percent to 27.5 percent following Friday’s import duty hike by New Delhi.
On the other hand, the import duty on refined edible oil has increased from 13.75 percent to 35.75 percent. According to Reuters, the decision on edible oil was being discussed within the government since the end of August, keeping in mind the Maharashtra elections this year. Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunveen Group, which is involved in the edible oil business, said, “After a long time, the government has tried to balance the interests of consumers and farmers.” He believes that the farmers of the country will get better prices due to this decision. India is the world’s largest importer of edible oil. 70 percent of India’s total edible oil requirement is imported from different countries.
Most of the imported palm oil comes from the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. On the other hand, soybean and sunflower oil come from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. However, due to this decision, there is a fear of increasing the price of edible oil in the Indian market. In this regard, a dealer in Delhi said, ‘Half of the edible oil used in India is palm oil. Due to this decision, palm oil prices may be negatively affected from next week.
