The edible oil industry on Monday welcomed the announcement of agricultural development cess and the increase in import duty of crude palm oil in the Union Budget 2021-22, saying that the measures are expected to protect the interests of mustard farmers.
The announcement of agricultural development cess is a welcome move and hopefully the revenue from cess on edible oils would be utilised for augmenting domestic production of oilseeds, Solvent Extractor’s Association of India (SEA) President Atul Chaturvedi said in a statement.
“As per our understanding the effective import duty on CPO (crude palm oil) has gone up to 35.75 per cent, while at the same time import duty on soya and sunflower oil has remained unchanged at 38.5 per cent.
“We welcome this decision of the government as it will help in containing import of palm oil and remove the undue advantage it had over soya and sunflower oil. This should help protect the interest of mustard farmers whose crop is ready for harvest,” he noted.
However, he added that the edible oil industry was expecting the announcement of starting of the National Mission on Edible Oils in line with our Prime Minister’s Vision of Atmanirbharta but disappointingly the Budget was silent on that front.
Source: Business Standard
