Tummala Nageswara Rao Welcomes Hike in Palm Oil Import Duty

Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao thanked Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for increasing the import duty on palm oil from 5.5 per cent to 27.5 percent. The government said the decision was taken following a request by Nageswara Rao.

In a release the minister said that the removal of import duty on palm oil had led to fall in price of the raw oil palm fruit and dissuaded more farmers from taking up its cultivation. The government had therefore sought reimposition of the import duty.

Following the increase in import duty, the price of palm oil was expected to increase from Rs.14,392 per tonne by Rs.1,500 to Rs.1,700. This is expected to benefit 9,366 oil palm farmers.