Edible oil prices may fall soon. The government on Tuesday announced the removal of custom duty and agriculture cess on import of 2 million tonnes of crude soybean and sunflower oil annually till March 2024.
According to the notification issued by the Finance Ministry, import duty will not be levied on 2 million tonnes of crude soybean oil and sunflower oil annually in the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. This exemption will be applicable till 31 March 2024. This is expected to make cooking oil cheaper. This means that by March 31, 2024, a total of 8 million tonnes of crude soybean oil and crude sunflower oil can be imported duty free.
BV Mehta, executive director of Solvat Extractors of India (SEA), said that with this decision of the government, the price of soybean oil will come down by Rs 3 per liter. Along with this, the government has issued a notification regarding Duty Rate Quota (TRQ) for 20 lakh tonnes of crude soybean and sunflower oils. BV Mehta said that under TRQ, customs duty and agriculture cess of 5.5 per cent will be removed.
Central Govt. has allowed import of a quantity of 20 Lakh MT each of Crude Soyabean Oil & Crude Sunflower Oil per year for a period of 2 years at Nil rate of customs duty & Agricultural Infrastructure and Development Cess.
This will provided significant relief to the consumers. pic.twitter.com/jvVq0UTfvv
— CBIC (@cbic_india) May 24, 2022
Help in reducing oil prices: The government has taken this step to reduce the rising edible oil prices in the local market. The government believes that this exemption in import duty will bring down domestic prices and help in controlling inflation. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) wrote in a tweet, “This decision will provide necessary relief to the consumers.”
Wholesale price inflation hit a record high of 15.08 per cent in April, driven by rise in prices of all commodities from fuel to vegetables and cooking oil. At the same time, retail inflation had reached an eight-year high, 7.79 percent.
Excise duty reduced on petrol and diesel: Earlier, the government had reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel only last week amid rising oil prices. Along with this, the government had also decided to remove import duty on some raw materials used in the steel and plastics industry. Along with this, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder to more than 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which is applicable up to 12 cylinders.