Retail prices of cooking oils may fall after duty cut: IVPA

India meets around 60 per cent of its total edible oil requirements through imports.

New Delhi: Edible oil industry body IVPA expects retail prices of cooking oils to come down following the government’s decision to cut import duties on soyabean, palm and sunflower oils.

India meets around 60 per cent of its total edible oil requirements through imports.

On Wednesday, the government reduced the basic customs duty (BCD) on crude sunflower oil from 10 per cent to nil. The BCD on refined sunflower oil has been trimmed from 32.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent.

The BCD on crude soybean oil and palm oil has been slashed from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, and on refined soybean oil and palm oil from 32.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent.

Sudhakar Desai, President, Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association (IVPA), said the decision to reduce customs duties on specific edible-oil imports comes at an important 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 added.

For the edible oil industry, Desai said that the immediate priority is to ensure adequate availability across the country during the upcoming festival months.

There is an increased demand for cooking oils during the festive season from households as well as the sweets, snacks, food-service and HORECA segments.

“The revised duty structure is also significant from the point of view of demand shifts. Sunflower oil duty cut has been steeper, making sunflower oil more affordable, especially in the major consuming region of South India,” Desai said.

The IVPA president noted that India remains dependent on imports to meet a substantial portion of its edible-oil requirement.

Therefore, he said the domestic market is sensitive to international edible oil prices and global supply conditions.

“Greater flexibility to import sunflower oil and soyabean 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 cut down of the acreage expansion,” Desai said.

“At the consumer level, however, the 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,” he observed.

According to industry body 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.

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.