Business:  The government is considering increasing the import duty on vegetable oils. The government may take this step in the coming weeks to help farmers troubled by the low prices of oilseeds. If the government does this, then foreign purchases of palm oil, soy oil and sunflower oil may decrease.

An official, on the condition of anonymity, said that we are exploring all options to help the farmers. Increasing import duty is also included in it. India's vegetable oil imports increased by 22.2 tonnes to 19 lakh tonnes in July. This is the second highest import ever. India meets more than 70 percent of its vegetable oil demand through imports.

From which countries is oil purchased  

It buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while imports soya oil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. A proposal has been made by the Agriculture Ministry in this regard and the final decision on it will be taken by the Revenue Department under the Finance Ministry. When an official of the department was asked for a response in this regard, he refused to say anything.

In 2022, India, the world's largest vegetable oil importer, abolished the basic import duty on crude vegetable oils to bring down prices. However, the government is still charging 5.5% as agriculture infrastructure and development cess. Domestic soybean prices are currently around Rs 4,200 per quintal, which is lower than the fixed support price of Rs 4,892.