Edible Oil Import Duty Reduction To Ease Cooking Oil Prices, Says SEA

New Delhi, Sep 24: Edible oil industry body SEA on Thursday hailed the decision to reduce import duties and said this could soften retail prices of cooking oils.

According to Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (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.

Import duty cut impact

In a statement, the SEA described the government's decision to reduce import duty on edible oils as balanced, protecting the interest of consumers and industry.

"The present duty adjustment needs to be viewed in the context of the approximately 25 per cent increase in international edible oil prices and a 12-15 per cent increase in domestic prices over the past year, along with the approaching festive season," SEA President Sanjeev Asthana said.

The Consumer Price Index jumped to 4.8 per cent, while food inflation has risen to 5.95 per cent from 5.52 per cent a month earlier, which is also a concern for the Government, he added.

Consumer and industry concerns

“The immediate objective is to moderate the burden on consumers, while retaining the duty differential between crude and refined oils, which ensures that the domestic refining industry continues to have an important role in the value chain. It is, therefore, a balanced approach addressing both consumer and industry considerations,” Asthana said.

The SEA said the reduction in import duty should help soften the impact of elevated global prices on Indian consumers.

In fact, the association also expects the measure to have a bearing on the emerging issue of refined edible oil imports into India from Nepal under the existing bilateral trade framework.

"Without any change to the bilateral trade agreement between India and Nepal, a lower domestic import duty could reduce the arbitrage advantage associated with such imports from Nepal and thereby moderate the incentive for large-scale inflows,” said B V Mehta, Executive Director of SEA.

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Import trends and outlook

Mehta expects the benefit of lower import costs to be reflected progressively in the domestic market.

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.

Vegetable oil comprises edible and non-edible oils.

India imports palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, while soyabean oil comes from Argentina and Brazil.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)