A broad-based increase in the import duty for vegetable oils is seen as a booster dose for the domestic crushing industry and the overall edible oil sector.
The hike in import duty on crude edible oils from 12.5 per cent to 30 per cent and on refined oils from 20 per cent to 35 per cent was in line with the recommendations made by several trade bodies. However, there were some misses too.
Atul Chaturvedi, President, Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, said, “By and large our recommendations were accepted but a few demands such as increasing the duty differential between crude palm oil and RBD palmolein at 15 per cent is still a work in progress. Secondly, we had demanded to form a oilseed development fund from the revenues of the increased duties aiming at India’s edible oil security, but that has been missed in the Budget.”
However, while there is no specific benefit to the edible oil sector, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hiked the import duty on crude cottonseed oil from 12.5 per cent to 30 per cent; CPO at 33 per cent against 30.9 per cent; RBD Palmolein at 44 per cent against 41.2 per cent earlier.
The import duty on refined cottonseed oil has risen to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.
Davish Jain, Chairman, Soyabean Producers Association of India, said, “Customs Duty on crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oil and sunflower oil is still lower by 5 per cent than other crude oils such as soyabean and palm and this is a matter of great concern. We are disappointed that our request for establishment of an Oilseed Development Fund has not been accepted although it is an import-intensive commodity.”