BOMBAY (May 10 2003) : India's Finance Ministry said it has not reducedthe base import price of crude soyabean oil, calling a notification onsome private Internet sites as fake.

It said the $600 a tonne base price or tariff value, raised from $542 inDecember, still holds.

The clarification followed a fake notification on some Web sites whichsaid the base price has been cut to $530, the ministry said.

India, the world's largest edible oil importer, fixes base prices to checkloss of revenue due to under-invoicing by some importers.

It mainly buys palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and soyabean oil fromArgentina and Brazil.

Traders pay import duties on base values irrespective of the prices atwhich they purchase oils.

The import duty on soyabean oil is 45 percent.-Reuters