Govt hikes import duty on non-palm oils by 5-10%

The Centre today raised the import duty by 5-10 per cent on non-palm edible oils, both crude and refined ones, in order to protect the interest of domestic oilseeds growers and processors.

In March, the government had raised the import duty on crude palm oils from 30 per cent to 44 per cent, while that on refined palm oils to 54 per cent from 40 per cent.

But the customs duty on non-palm crude and refined edibles was kept unchanged even as the industry body SEA had demanded.

In a latest notification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBITC) has increased import duty on crude soyabean oil from 30 per cent to 35 per cent, while that on refined soyabean oil from 35 per cent to 45 per cent.

In case of sunflower oil, the import duty on crude variant has been increased from 25 per cent to 35 per cent, while that on refined variant from 35 per cent to 45 per cent.

Similarly, the import duty on crude groundnut oil has been increased from 30 per cent to 35 per cent, while that on refined groundnut oil from 35 per cent to 45 per cent.

The import duty on canola oil has been increased from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.

Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) had demanded that the government's aim to double farmers' income will be defeated if import duties on soya, sunflower and canola oils were not increased in same proportion as palm oils.

It had said that it would be difficult to encourage farmers to grow more oilseeds if duties on these oils are not raised.

India imports over 14 million tonnes of vegetable oils annually to meet domestic demand.