Decision on hike in duty on refined edible oil in 15 days: KV Thomas

MUMBAI: The government will take a call on whether to increase import duty on refined edible oil or not in the next 10-15 days, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas said today.

"We are looking at the representation submitted by the Solvent Extractors Association on increasing the import duty on refined edible oil. We will take a decision in 10-15 days in this regard," Thomas told reporters here.

India imported more than 60 per cent of its edible oil requirement. Imports stood at 8.5 million between November, 2012 and August 2013.

"As the domestic production of edible oils is only able to meet half of the total requirement, the country has to rely on imports," Thomas observed.

The per capita consumption of edible oil in the country has gone up to 14.8 kg per annum in 2011-12 from 11.4 kg in 2004-05, an increase of 28 per cent.

The projection by different agencies show that the per capita consumption of vegetable oils is expected to touch 16 kg per year by 2017, and the total requirement is expected to be 20 million tone, he added.