Custom duty hike on crude, refined oils to hugely benefit farmers

The government's decision to hike customs duty on crude palm and refined sunflower oil to 20 per cent and 32.5 per cent, respectively will "hugely" benefit farmers as it will increase their income, a senior official said on Saturday.

The government official also said that the decision to remove minimum export price and slashing of export duty on onion too would help farmers of the country.

According to a finance ministry notification, the basic customs duty on crude palm, soybean and sunflower seed oil has been increased from nil to 20 per cent.

Basic customs duty on refined palm, soybean and sunflower oil has been hiked from 12.5 per cent to 32.5 per cent.

The effective duty on these crude and refined oils will increase from 5.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent and from 13.75 per cent to 35.75 per cent, respectively.

"These are big support for soya and oilseed farmers. Farmers from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will get hugely benefited as they account for significant production of the