InfoSAWIT, MUMBAI – The Government of India still considered to increase vegetable oil import duty to protect the smallholders/farmers that were hit by seed oil price, according to two government’s sources, Wednesday. This would be announced in the next month and would reduce (vegetable oil) demands and purchase, such as, crude palm oil, soyoil, sunflower oil from many countries.

“We are exploring every option to help the smallholders. Make import tax more expensive would be one thing as the consideration,” an official said, as InfoSAWIT quoted from Reuters, Friday (30/8/2024).

Another official mentioned that the proposal derived from the ministry of agriculture and department of revenue that were managed by ministry of finance and would be announced, as the official mentioned.

In 2022, India as the biggest vegetable oil importer in the world, eliminated the basic import tax for crude oil to stabilize its price but New Delhi still managed tax about 5,5%, known as agricultural development and infrastructure customs.

A spoke-man of the government did not deliver responses about the plan.

If it runs, the increasing import tax would protect the smallholders in the country that faced seed oil price that being much cheaper, and would deliver impacts for vegetable oil globally because India would be the main vegetable oil consumer in the world. (T2)