The Centre has reduced the basic customs duty on crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower oil to 10 per cent. The move is aimed at bringing down the retail prices of cooking oils and protecting domestic processors. A notification in this regard was issued by the finance ministry yesterday with immediate effect.
Earlier, the duty on these three crude edible oils was 20 per cent. India imports more than 50 per cent of its domestic edible oil requirement. India imported 159.6 lakh tonnes of edible oils during the 2023-24 oil marketing year (November to October), valuing 1.32 lakh crore rupees. The basic custom duty on refined oil remains unchanged at 32.5 per cent. India imports palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia. Soyabean oil comes from Brazil and Argentina.
