Steeper Cut in Import Duty on Sunflower Oil

Mumbai: Due to disruptions in the import of relatively cheaper sunflower oil from countries like Russia and Ukraine, the Indian government had to implement a steeper reduction in customs duty for this commodity compared to palm oil and soybean oil. The basic import duty on crude palm oil and crude soybean oil, previously set at 10 percent, was reduced to 5 percent. Similarly, while the import duty on crude sunflower oil was also 10 percent, it was slashed to zero percent.

The same approach was applied to refined edible oils. The basic import duty on refined soybean oil and RBD palm oil/palmolein, previously 32.5 percent, was reduced by 5 percentage points to 27.5 percent. For refined sunflower oil, the duty was also 32.5 percent but was cut by 10 percentage points to 22.5 percent.

In recent years, Russia has emerged as India's primary supplier of sunflower oil, shipping volumes that exceeded the combined exports from other nations such as Ukraine, Argentina, and Romania. In fact, Russia alone accounts for over 50 percent of India's sunflower oil imports.

However, during the first 10 months of the current marketing season (November 2025 to August 2026), India imported approximately 1.22 million tonnes of sunflower oil from Russia—a figure roughly 14 percent lower than imports during the corresponding period of the 2024-25 season. Shipments of sunflower oil via the Black Sea route have stalled due to the intense ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.