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

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBITC) under Finance Ministry has raised import duty by 5-10% on non-palm edible oils, both crude and refined ones, in order to protect interest of domestic oilseeds growers and processors.

Key Facts

Sunflower oil: The import duty on crude variant was increased from 25% to 35%, while that on refined variant from 35% to 45%.
Crude groundnut oil: The import duty was increased from 30% to 35%, while that on refined groundnut oil from 35% to 45%.
Canola oil: The import duty was increased from 25% to 35% .

Background

India has 60-65% import dependency in edible oils as there is huge demand supply gap in domestic market. India imports over 14 million tonnes of vegetable oils annually to meet domestic demand.  Thus, international trade in edible oils generates huge import bill to be paid every year. The import bill for edible oil is around $10 billion which is India’s third-highest overseas spending after oil and gold. In March 2018, Central Government had raised import duty on crude palm oils from 30% to 44%, while that on refined palm oils to 54% from 40%. But the customs duty on non-palm crude and refined edibles was kept unchanged.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2018