Increase in import duty on CPO brings relief to palm growers in Telangana

16-Sep-2024 07:22 PM

Hyderabad. In response to a special request made by a Telangana minister, the Central government has increased the import duty on crude palm oil (CPO) from 5.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent.

The import duty on other categories of crude edible oils has also been increased by the same amount.

The Telangana minister had strongly urged the Union Agriculture Minister to increase the import duty on edible oils and especially palm oil.

This decision of the government is expected to especially benefit indigenous and Telangana oil palm growers.

Earlier, a huge cut in import duty on crude palm oil had led to a sharp fall in the price of oil palm, which was not only affecting the existing growers but also troubling the farmers who were planning to start palm cultivation.

To prevent this situation, the Telangana minister had strongly urged the Central government to reinstate the import duty.

A few days ago, when the Union Agriculture Minister visited Telangana to take stock of the flood-affected areas, the state minister along with oil palm producers had appealed to them to increase the import duty on edible oils so that oil palm producers can get a profitable price for their produce and new farmers can be encouraged to start its cultivation.

The Central Government issued a notification on September 13 and announced to increase the import duty on crude and refined edible oils by 20-20 percent.

The price of oil palm pods is currently around Rs 14,400 per tonne, whereas after the government decision, it is likely to increase by Rs 1500-1700 to reach above Rs 16,500 per tonne.

In Telangana, about 9366 farmers are engaged in palm cultivation and its plantations are spread over about 44,400 acres where about 2.80 lakh tonnes of palm pods are produced annually.

Production in other plantations is expected to start in the coming days or years. Telangana is a major palm producer state.