Palm Oil: The government has reduced the import duty on crude palm oil.
New Delhi:
The government on Tuesday reduced the standard rate of import duty on crude palm oil to 10 percent with a view to bring down the prices of edible oils in the domestic market. On other palm oils, it will be 37.5 percent. This decision will continue till 30 September. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in a notification that the standard customs duty (BCD) rate on crude palm oil has been revised to 10 per cent. Which will be effective from Wednesday.
The effective import duty on crude palm oil will be 30.25 per cent with basic import duty of 10 per cent inclusive of cess and other duties. Whereas for refined palm oil it will be 41.25 percent from Wednesday. “This notification will be effective from June 30, 2021 and will remain in force till September 30, 2021,” the CBI said.
Prices will increase again in October
Currently, standard customs duty (BCD) on palm oil is 15 per cent while other categories of RBD palm oil, RBD palmolein, RBD palm stearin (except crude palm oil) attract 45 per cent duty. CBIC tweeted, “To give relief to the people, the government has reduced the customs duty on Crude Palm Oil from 35.75 percent to 30.25 percent and on Refined Palm Oil from 49.5 percent to 41.25 percent.” This will bring down the retail prices of edible oils in the domestic market.
BV Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), said, “The government has tried to balance the interests of both consumers and farmers. This will provide immediate relief to the poor, while protecting farmers as the fee will be hiked again when the harvesting season begins in October. He said that the reduction in import duty of refined palm oil will not have much effect, as the import of refined oil is very less.
India is the largest importer of edible oils
According to data from industry body SEA, India’s palm oil imports rose 48 per cent to 7,69,602 tonnes in May 2021 due to higher shipments of crude palm oil. Palm oil accounts for more than 60 percent of the country’s total edible oil consumption. India imported 4,00,506 tonnes of palm oil in May 2020. The country’s total import of vegetable oils increased by 68 per cent to 12.49 lakh tonnes in May 2021, as compared to 7.43 lakh tonnes in the same period a year ago.
Palm oil is India’s third largest imported commodity after crude oil and gold. India is the world’s largest importer of edible oil, and buys about 15 million tonnes of edible oil annually from other countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia.
The government had earlier this month also reduced the import duty value of edible oils, including palm oil, by $112 a tonne. This was also considered helpful in keeping the domestic prices low.
(This news has not been edited by NDTV team. It has been published directly from Syndicate feed.)