Government fights inflation – no import duty on Crude palm oil
To combat inflation, the government yesterday decided to scrap import duty on crude palm and soya oils and ban export of non-basmati rice and pulses.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, besides our own FM, Chidambaram. They deferred a decision on duty reduction on iron and steel as Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan is away from the country. Steel producers have increased prices between Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 per tonne during the past three months, triggering concerns among dealers and realty developers.
The Cabinet Committee approved ban on export of non-basmati rice with immediate effect and decided to extend the ban on pulses export for one more year from Monday. The FM said that these would be effective midnight 31st March and the Notification would be issued today. NO APRIL FOOL THIS!
The FM said that all edible oils in crude form can be imported at zero duty, while the duty on oils in the refined form would be 7.5 per cent.
The government also decided to raise the minimum export price of Basmati rice to USD 1,200 per ton from USD 1100, to discourage export and increase availability in the domestic market.
It is also decided to scrap import duty on maize from 15 per cent at present.
The Union Government also advised states to impose limits on stocks of commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, besides asking steel producers not to raise prices.
We will bring you the notifications if they are issued today.