Centre doubles import duty on crude edible oil

Prices may rise Rs 5-6 per kg, traders see no big drop in imports

The Centre late on Friday doubled the import duties on most varieties of crude edible oil and raised them by over 15 percentage points for refined oil.

This was done in order to prop up local oilseed prices, particularly those of groundnut, soybean and sunflower, which have been ruling below their minimum support prices (MSPs) this kharif season. 

The government also increased the import duty on soybean seeds by 15 percentage points to 45 per cent.

The latest increase, which has taken import duties on edible oil to their highest level in over a decade, comes weeks before Assembly elections