The Story So Far: Ahead of the upcoming festival season, where the demand for edible oil is likely to increase, the Union Government announced on September 24 through a press release issued by the Consumer Affairs Department that the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on major imported crude edible oils, including the palm oil will be reduced. A day ago, on September 23, the Union Finance Ministry issued a Gazette Notification amending another notification issued on October 24, 2025 with details of the BCD on major edible oils. According to the Government, the decision will help to moderate domestic edible oil prices, provide relief to consumers and to mitigate “inflationary pressures” arising from the “sharp increase in international edible oil prices”.
According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation’s food price index, published on September 4, the vegetable oil price index averaged 196.9 points in August, up 1.1 points (0.6%) from July, marking its “third consecutive monthly increase and reaching its highest level since June 2022”. The FAO said the rise reflected higher world palm and soy oil prices, which more than offset lower quotations for sunflower and rapeseed oils. “International palm oil prices continued to increase, driven by robust global import demand and concerns over the potential impact of El Niño-related weather conditions on production prospects in Southeast Asia.
