Govt reduces duty on import of crude palm oil to contain spike in prices of edible oil
26.11.2020 (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) - NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday reduced the basic customs duty (BCD) on crude palm oil to 27.5%, in its bid to increase availability of the edible oil in the domestic market. The current BCD on crude palm oil is 37.5%.
The reduced rate will come to effect from Friday. The move comes barely a week after the issue of rising process edible oil came up for discussion at a meeting of the Group of Ministers headed by home minister Amit Shah.
TOI on November 20 had reported how prices of palm, soybean and sunflower oil had increased by 20-30% in the past one year.
The duty cut is likely to help cool off rising edible oil prices.
Palm oil constitutes over 40% of India's total edible oil consumption. Edible oil is India’s third-largest imported commodity after crude oil and gold.
Earlier in January, the government had slashed customs duty on crude palm oil from 40% to 37.5% for imports from Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.