Govt hikes import duty on edible oils to protect farmers

New Delhi: The Centre has raised import duty on crude palm oil to 30 per cent from 15 per cent and on refined oil to 40 per cent from 20 per cent in a bid to curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for supporting farmers and refiners, according to a notification.

Import duty on soyabean oil, sunflower oils, canola/mustard oils -- both crude and refined format -- has been raised, the notification released by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) late last night said.

Import duty on soyabean has also been increased.

An inter-ministerial group headed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) had examined the local price situation and suggested raising the import duties on edible oils and some oilseeds.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said import duty of crude palm oil has been doubled to 30 per cent, while the refined crude palm oil been increased to 40 per cent from 25 per cent.

Import duty on crude soyabean oil has been increased to 30 per cent from 17.5 per cent, while refined soyabean oil has been raised to 35 per cent from the current 20 per cent.

Similarly, import duty on crude sunflower oil has been increased to 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, while that on refined sunflower oil has been increased to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.

Also, import duty on crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils has been increased to 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, while the tax on refined crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils increased to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.

That apart, import duty on soyabean has been increased to 45 per cent from 30 per cent, the notification said.

Welcoming the move, industry body Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) said, "As the prices of all oilseeds fell below the MSP and a sense of deep distress and despondency was setting in the minds of farmers, the government finally saw the logic in our demand."

India, the world's leading cooking oil buyer, imported 154.50 lakh tonnes of both edible and non-edible oils in 2016 -17 marketing year (November-October), up by 4.75 per cent from 147.38 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean oil from Latin America. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.