NEW DELHI: In a bid to aim at increasing domestic supply and keeping prices under control, the finance ministry has extended concessional customs duty on edible oil imports by another 6 months till March 2023,

In a notification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said the existing concessional import duties on specified edible oils will be extended up to March 31, 2023. "The current duty structure on crude palm oil, RBD Palmolein, RBD palm oil, crude soybean oil, refined soybean oil, crude sunflower oil and refined sunflower oil remains unchanged till March 31, 2023," Solvent Extractors' Association of India said.

Currently, import duty on crude varieties of palm oil, soyabean oil and sunflower oil is nil. However, taking into account agricess of 5 percent and social welfare cessof 10 percent, the effective duty on crude varieties of these three edible oils is 5.5 percent. The basic customs duty on refined varieties of palmolin and palm oil is 12.5 percent, while social welfare cess is 10 percent. So the effective duty works out to 13.75 percent.

The basic customs duty on refined soyabean and sunflower oil is 17.5 percent and taking into account 10 percent social welfare cess, the effective duty comes to 19.25 percent. SEA Executive Director B V Mehta said the government has taken the decision to extend concessional duty till March in consumer interest. However, he said that the government will need to revisit the duty structure in October when the Kharif oilseeds crops come into the domestic market.

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