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New Delhi — India's edible oil industry expects retail prices of cooking oils to ease in the domestic market after the government announced significant reductions in import duties on crude and refined shipments of soybean, palm and sunflower oils.
India relies on imports to meet approximately 60 per cent of its total edible oil requirements. The duty revision, announced on Wednesday, is designed to lower landed costs and secure adequate supply ahead of the festive season, when household and food-service demand typically surges.
Under the revised structure, the basic customs duty (BCD) on crude sunflower oil has been cut from 10 per cent to nil, while the duty on refined sunflower oil has been trimmed from 32.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent. The BCD on crude soybean oil and crude palm oil has been lowered from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, and the duty on refined soybean oil and refined palm oil has been reduced from 32.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent.
Sudhakar Desai, President of the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers' Association (IVPA), said the decision comes at a critical juncture, particularly with the festive season approaching. 'Lower import duties should improve the landed costs of imported edible oils, which can provide some reduction in consumer prices,' he noted.
For the industry, Desai said the immediate priority is to ensure adequate availability across the country during the upcoming festival months. Demand for cooking oils typically rises during the festive season from households as well as the sweets, snacks, food-service and HORECA segments.
Desai added that 'the revised duty structure is also significant from the point of view of demand shifts. The sunflower oil duty cut has been steeper, making sunflower oil more affordable, especially in the major consuming region of South India.'
The IVPA president stressed that India remains dependent on imports to meet a substantial portion of its edible-oil requirement, leaving the domestic market highly sensitive to international prices and global supply conditions.
'Greater flexibility to import sunflower oil and soybean oil will shift demand away from palm oil, which is expected to be relatively expensive due to the implementation of B50 biofuel mandates and a slowdown in acreage expansion,' Desai observed.
He cautioned, however, that the consumer-level impact of any duty reduction will depend on several factors beyond customs duties, including international commodity prices, freight costs, exchange-rate movements, domestic availability and inventory levels.
According to the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), India's edible oil import bill is estimated to rise 9 per cent to around Rs 1.75 trillion (1.75 lakh crore) during the current marketing year ending October, driven by higher volumes and a depreciation of the rupee. During the November-August period of the 2025-26 oil year, total vegetable oil imports climbed 4 per cent to 13.88 million tonnes (138.8 lakh tonnes), up from 13.34 million tonnes (133.37 lakh tonnes) in the year-ago period.
India imports palm oil primarily from Malaysia and Indonesia, while soybean oil is sourced mainly from Argentina and Brazil.
Source: Press Trust of India (PTI)