Request to keep 15% duty difference between CPO and RBD palmolein

25-Apr-2025 08:49 PM

Mumbai. Solvent Extractors Association of India (CIA), an organization of the indigenous vegetable oil industry and trade sector, has urged the Central Government to keep the difference in import duty between crude palm oil (CPO) and RBD palmolein at least 15% to provide a level playing field to indigenous refiners.

In a letter sent to the Union Food Minister, the President of the Association has said that India imports huge quantities of palm oil from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Traditionally, Indian refiners import crude palm oil (CPO) and refine it to produce RBD palmolein. Huge capital has been invested to increase refining capacity, but due to the huge import of cheap palmolein from abroad, these indigenous refiners are suffering huge financial losses.

Often the import cost of refined palmolein is lower than that of CPO, whereas CPO incurs separate expenses on processing and refining. In such a situation, it is difficult for indigenous refiners to remain competitive with imported palmolein in the domestic segment itself.

At present, there is only a 7.5 percent difference in import duty between CPO and RBD palmolein, which is not sufficient from the point of view of indigenous refiners, hence this difference should be increased to at least 15 percent.

During the first five months of the current marketing season i.e. from November 2024 to March 2025, 6.63 lakh tonnes of refined palmolein was imported in the country, which was 27 percent of the total palm oil imports.

During this period, a total of 24.16 lakh tonnes of palm oil was imported, in which the share of CPO was 17.24 lakh tonnes or 72 percent and the share of crude palm kernel oil was 29 thousand tonnes or about 1 percent. In the entire marketing season 2023-24, 79.31 lakh tonnes of palmolein was procured.