India slashes customs duty on edible oils in bid to cut cooking costs

The central government has cut customs duties on edible oils, a move widely expected to reduce the cost of cooking for millions of households. The reductions apply to both crude and refined varieties of soybean and palm oil, two of the most widely consumed edible oils in India.

Duty on crude soybean and palm oils has been halved from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. The levy on their refined counterparts has been brought down from 32.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent, a reduction of five percentage points.

The cuts are intended to ease pressure on consumers who have faced persistently high edible oil prices, by making imports more competitively priced in the domestic market.