3/10/06 (New Kerala) New Delhi,   -  The Government has retained the base price for levying import duty on palm oil to keep their prices under check.

However, the base price called tariff value on brass scrap (all grades) was increased by 197 dollars to 4,826 dollars per metric tonnes, as per a notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

Tariff value on crude palm oil was retained at 447 dollars per metric tonne, at 476 dollars on RBD palm oil, 462 dollars on other varieties of palm oil, 481 dollars on crude palmolein, 484 dollars on RBD palmolein and 483 dollars on other varieties of palmolein.

Tariff value on crude soyabean oil remained unchanged at 580 dollars per metric tonnes, according to the notification issued on October one.

Government has not hiked the tariff value of palm oil for the last three revisions, which take place every fortnight.

Early August, the Government had effected ten per cent customs duty cut on both crude and refined palm oil as part of the measures to keep the price line of essential commodities.

Palm oil accounts for 60 per cent of the country's total edible oil imports, while soyabean oil makes for the rest. India imports 1,50,000-2,00,000 tonnes of crude palm oil every month.

--- PTI