New Delhi, September 24, 2026: The Food Ministry has asked edible oil companies to pass on the full benefit of lower import duties on cooking oils to consumers.
On Wednesday, the government reduced the basic
customs duty (BCD) on crude sunflower oil from 10 per cent to nil. The BCD on refined sunflower oil has been trimmed from 32.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent.
The BCD on crude soybean oil and palm oil has been slashed from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, and on refined soybean oil and palm oil from 32.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent.
Price Cuts For Consumers
In an official statement on Thursday, the ministry said it has "issued an advisory to edible oil associations and industry stakeholders to ensure that the full benefit arising from the reduction in import duty is passed on to consumers".
Industry stakeholders have been told to immediately revise their price to distributors (PTD) and maximum retail price (MRP) in accordance with the reduction in landed costs.
The ministry has directed edible oil associations to advise their members to implement the corresponding price reductions without delay.
"The government will continue to monitor developments in international edible oil markets and domestic prices and will take appropriate measures, as necessary, to safeguard the interests of consumers while maintaining a balanced policy environment for farmers and the domestic edible oil industry," the statement said.
Duty Cut Aims To Ease Prices
On the duty cut, the ministry said the decision is aimed at moderating domestic edible oil prices, providing relief to consumers and mitigating inflationary pressures arising from the sharp increase in international edible oil prices.
"The duty rationalisation takes into account the increase in international edible oil prices and the consequent rise in domestic landed costs and retail prices. Import duties constitute an important component of the landed cost of imported edible oils and, therefore, have a bearing on domestic market prices," it said.
The ministry said it has maintained the duty differential between crude and refined edible oils to support the utilisation of domestic refining capacity and discourage excessive imports of refined edible oils.
Edible Oil Import Bill Rises
According to industry body SEA, India's edible oil import bill is estimated to rise 9 per cent to Rs 1.75 lakh crore during the current marketing year ending October on higher volumes and rupee depreciation.
Already, during the November-August period of the 2025-26 oil year, the total vegetable oil imports rose 4 per cent to 138.8 lakh tonnes from 133.37 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
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Vegetable oil comprises edible and non-edible oils. India imports palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, while soybean oil comes from Argentina and Brazil.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
