India Cuts Import Duty On Refined Palm Oil Amid Rising Cooking Oil Prices

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- India has reduced import duties on refined palm oil as consumers feel the pinch of rising domestic cooking oil prices. The revised import duty on refined, bleached, and deodorised (RBD) palmolein will be 13.75 per cent compared with 19.25 per cent earlier. The reduced rate, announced on Monday, will remain effective until March 31, 2022. The tax reduction would encourage more RBD palmolein imports into the country at the cost of crude palm oil (CPO), said trade group Solvent Extractors' Association of India on Tuesday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament on Monday that the government was taking measures to control the prices of edible oil and other essential commodities. India relies heavily on edible oil imports to satisfy its domestic consumption demand. Its edible oil imports in November amounted to about 1.13 million tonnes, 11 per cent more than October's volume. -- BERNAMA