13/4/07 (The Hindu) NEW DELHI  -  The Union Government on Friday reduced the customs duty on crude and refined palm oil by 10 percentage points to check rising prices of these edible oils and contain inflation.

The customs duty on crude palm oil, crude palmolein and other fractions of crude palm oil has been slashed from 60 per cent to 50 per cent, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) spokesperson Hemambika Priya said here.

The duty on refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, RBD palmolein and other refined palm oils has been cut from 67.5 per cent to 57.5 per cent, she said.

The duty cut came into effect immediately, she said.

The tariff value for the palm group of oils will continue to remain fixed at the July level.

``Reduction in customs duties will reduce the landed cost of these oils and is expected to soften the domestic prices of edible oil,'' a CBEC official said.

The cut in customs duties is likely to bring down the prices of edible oils, but the Government will incur substantial loss in revenues.

From April 2006 to January 2007, revenue collection from edible oil was Rs. 4,188 crore as compared to Rs. 4,771 crore in financial year 2005-06.

Meanwhile, vanaspati industry expressed dissatisfaction over the 'small' duty cut and demanded a further reduction in the duties to make the domestic industry competitive. ``Even at this rate also, vanaspati industry could not survive. The duty should be 20 per cent on crude palm oil,'' Vanaspati Manufacturers Association Executive Director S Gurumurthy told PTI.