Govt slashes custom duties on edible oils to check prices in festive season

The custom duties have been reduced on both crude and refined variants of these three cooking oils, according to a release by the Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

To control rising edible oil prices during the festival season, the base custom duties on palm, soyabean and sunflower oils have been reduced further, bearing a revenue loss of Rs 1,100 crore, the government said on Saturday. The move, industry said, could bring down retail prices by Rs 4-5 per litre. The custom duties have been reduced on both crude and refined variants of these three cooking oils, according to a release by the Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. But the agri-cess on crude palm oil has been increased from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent, it said.