Amid rising prices of cooking oil, the government is unlikely to increase import duty on crude and refined edible oils that currently stands at zero and 7.5 per cent, respectively.
"There will not be any increase in import duty of crude and refined edible oils,"a senior government official told reporters.
To protect the domestic processors from cheaper imports, industry body Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) has been demanding an increase in the import duty on edible oils.
However, rising food inflation, which has increased to 14.44 per cent for the week ended December 18, 2010, has forced the government not to tweak the existing duty structure.
Currently with a zero import duty on crude palm oil, the domestic pricing of oil is directly exposed to price fluctuations in palm and soybean in the global markets.
In Delhi's retail markets, prices of sunflower oil increased to Rs 108/kg today from Rs 72/kg in the same period last year, according to official data.
Similarly, mustard oil and soya oil prices have risen to Rs 77/kg each from Rs 62-72/kg in the review period, it showed,.
India, the world's biggest edible oil buyer, had imported 8.82 million tonnes of vegetable oil from the global market in the 2009-10 oil year, which runs from November to October.
On Food Subsidy Bill, the official said the subsidy is expected to rise to over 81,000 crore in the 2010-11 fiscal from last year's Rs 72,000 crore due to higher minimum support price and extra allocation of foodgrains through ration shops.-PTI
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