NEW DELHI, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- The mission of Primary Industries MinisterDatuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik to India appears to be yielding positiveresults with the Indian Government promising to examine high import dutiesimposed by it on refined and crude palm oil and also the differentialbetween the two.The assurances were held out by the ministers of the two ministriesconcerned, Agriculture Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, and Consumer Affairs, Foodand Public Distribution Minister, Mr Sharad Yadav, with whom Dr Lim hadmeetings during his stay in Delhi before leaving for Bangladesh.The Malaysian Minister was at great pains to explain to the ministers thatwith global production of oilseeds going down and the rising demand, theprices of edible oils were bound to go up, seriously affecting theinterests of the consumers.Dr Lim wanted the Indian government to bring down the duty in the interestof the consumers, who had already been seriously affected.Besides the two ministers, Dr Lim also met the minister for Commerce andIndustry, Mr Arun Jaitly, who would be conveying the request for loweringduties on palm oil to the ministries concerned.With Budget to be presented in a week's time, the Indian Government coulddo no more than promise to have the matter examined. However, mostobservers of the economic scene have suggested a populist budget withState elections taking place and elections to Parliament not far away.In such a scenario, no government could ignore the interests of theconsumers, for whom the Malaysian Minister has been pleading.However, it is difficult to forecast what would be the shape of things tocome with the perennial need of the government to raise revenues. Theprices of edible oils have been rising even in the oilseed producingStates.Dr Lim has said he would be considering to adopt some mechanism by whichthe price of crude palm oil for the top oilseed producing State of Gujaratcould be subsidised.Reports from the adjoining State of Andhra Pradesh have said that edibleoil prices in the state had gone up to record levels.Dr Lim said Malaysia would be willing to export crude palm oil without anyduties if an understanding could be arrived at for Malaysia'sparticipation in crude palm oil refining in India.The Commerce Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley suggested that joint venture forrefining units could be set up in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) inIndia which would provide the advantage of duty-free import of crude palmoil for export of refined palm oil.Dr Lim meanwhile said he would look into allegations of export of refinedolein with one per cent free fatty acids (FFA), imported as crude palmolein and sold in India as refined palm oil, if the Indian governmentraises the issue.Talking to newsmen later he said: "The specifications were in order andcontended that it was due to duty differential between refined and crudepalm oil that traders were resorting to the practise of mixing FFA torefined olein."Traders were importing the commodity as crude palm oil, which attractedlower duty of 65 per cent against 92.4 per cent in the case of refinedpalm oil, resulting in duty leakage for the Indian Government.The Indian Government, however, had so far not raised the issue with theMalaysian Government. -- BERNAMA