New Delhi: The government on Wednesday removed import restrictions on refined palm oil till December 31 this year, a move that could help increase the availability of the commodity in the domestic market and bring down prices.
According to a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), "import policy" of refined bleached deodorised palm oil, and refined bleached deodorised palmolein "is amended from restricted to free with immediate effect and for a period up to December 31, 2021".
It, however, added that the import is not permitted through any port in Kerala. Under the restricted category, an importer has to obtain a licence or permission from DGFT for inbound shipments. The government on Tuesday cut basic customs duty on crude palm oil to 10 per cent till September this year. "These moves are expected to lower prices of edible oils for the domestic consumers," the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
International prices of crude edible oil and refined palm oil were showing a declining trend in prices over the past one month. However, the prices of domestic refined palm oil and crude edible oil remained high, it said. The government will be monitoring the prices daily and expects the industry to pass on full benefits to the consumers, it added. "This would be effective with immediate effect and for a period up to December 31, 2021," the ministry said. It said food inflation including high prices of edible oils has been a cause of concern and the government has been monitoring prices and taking steps by way of removing bottlenecks to soften prices.
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As the country has to depend heavily on imports to meet the gap between demand and supply, the global prices have an impact on domestic prices of edible oils, the ministry added. Refined bleached deodorised palm oil is made from refining crude palm oil. India, the world's largest importer of vegetable oils, buys nearly 15 million tonne annually. Of this, palm oil comprises 9 million tonne and the rest 6 million tonne is soybean and sunflower oil.
Indonesia and Malaysia are the two countries that supply palm oil. Domestic edible oil prices have more than doubled in the past year. India meets about two-thirds of its edible oil demand through imports.
As per data by industry body SEA, India's import of palm oils rose by 48 per cent to 7,69,602 tonne in May 2021, on higher shipments of crude palm oil. India, the world's leading vegetable oil buyer, had imported 4,00,506 tonne palm oil in May 2020. The country's total vegetable oil imports rose 68 per cent to Rs 12.49 lakh tonne in May 2021, compared to 7.43 lakh tonne in the year-ago period. The share of palm oil is more than 60 per cent of the country's total vegetable oil imports.
PTI
