Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel today appealed the Centre to immediately increase the duty on crude and vegetable oil, saying the massive surge in import of edible oils has hit farmers involved in cultivation of oil seeds in the country.
In a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he said that there is an unprecedented increase in import of vegetable oils and the import of edible oils has increased by over 23 per cent in the past ten months.
Noting that over 10 lakh farmers depend on cultivation of oil seeds, he said that the massive surge in imports has amplified their distress in a drought year.
"While the Government has championed the Made in India campaign, its own import policies have made India a dumping ground for vegetable oils and this has jeopardised the livelihood of our farmers," Patel, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, said in his letter.
In the backdrop of this crisis, he urged the Government to immediately increase duty on both crude and refined vegetable oils and also announce a policy to incentivise domestic production.
Patel's letter is significant given the fact that he hails from Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where oil seed is a major crop and a sensitive commodity.
