Cooking
Oil prices likely to ease by December: Food Secretary
Soaring oil prices are likely to come down from December as possible rates decline in international commodities but govt. not to reduce import duty after the arrival of new oilseed crop says Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey.
However, he indicated that the govt.
would be strained to reduce further import duty as it needs to promote its own
resources which have been affected by Covid. The Retail Prices of major edible
oil have hiked up to 48% over the last few years and decreased the production
of Soyabean which is India’s largest oilseed crop, However, Mr Pandey confirmed
that the price hike to over.
December would be a marginally
declining month for Soyabean and Palm oil so at least we can expect “No more
price hike” Mr Pandey said to Reporters. He added that Domestic Soya Crop,
Mustard Oil would help to soften the prices but it won’t be a dramatic drop as
there is still global pressure. However governmental taxes and duties make a
major chunk in Retail prices of Edible oil, two months ago Centre had reduced import
duties on Palm oil from 15% to 10%. Though, effective duties such as Cess and
other taxes are still 30.25% on Crude Palm Oil and 41.25% on Refined Palm Oil.
When it was asked whether any further
tax cuts are possible in future, Mr Pandey noted that ‘Pandemic has affected
everyone’s resources’ still govt. is trying to make better policies. He further
said that govt. interruption in duty reduction and port facilitation has also
ensured although global soy and Palm Oil prices hiked from 22% to 18% last week.
India’s prices have only hiked by 2%. Further, he added the money earned
through agricultural cess would be used to encourage domestic edible oil and to
reduce dependency on imports.
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