Sharp increase in tariff on palm oil, chickpea

The central government has sharply raised the import duty on palm oil and chana (chickpea or Bengal gram).

The duty on crude palm oil (CPO) has been raised to 44 per cent from the earlier 30 per cent and on RBD (the refined variety) to 54 per cent from 40 per cent. For kabuli chana (white chickpea) the import duty of 40 per cent is now 54 per cent.

For desi chana (black chickpea), the duty of 40 per cent has been raised to 60 per cent.

 Following the duty hike, CPO May futures price fell about 3 per cent to 2,469 ringgit