Keeping in mind the launch of the “Make in India” campaign, on Thursday, PMO has written to the commerce ministry to come up with a plan to reduce the country’s dependence on unwarranted imports.
As per announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day, the “Make in India” drive aims at cutting the unnecessary expenditure that exchequer bears due to needless imports.
A commerce ministry source disclosed on Monday that nine commodities have been so far identified where annual imports constitute more than $100 million each. One of such commodities is Edible oil, which leads the import basket with a 60 per cent share. Pulses, fresh fruits, cashew, sugar, alcoholic beverages, processed and packaged items, cocoa products and sesame seeds being others.
“The ministry has written to the concerned sector councils and associations, seeking suggestions on ways to reduce such imports,” the source said.
Since the local prices of oilseeds are falling as the prices are softening overseas, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters earlier this month that there were no immediate plans to raise the import duty on edible oils.
After a sharp drop in local soybean and groundnut prices, industry associations have been demanding a rise in the import duty.
India – the world’s leading buyer of edible oils, meets more than half its edible oil needs through imports.
The government raised the import duty on refined edible oil to 10 percent In January. The industry had been demanding an increase in the import duty on refined oil to 14.5 per cent thereby ensuring a marked difference between crude and refined edible oil.
Owing to the earlier five percent gap in the duties, there had been an increase in the import of refined oils, leading to a fall in the capacity utilisation of domestic refiners.
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Tushita is a political writer at thenational.net. Her deep rooted interest in politics, passion for writing and craze for travelling define her. Writing since her school days, she aspires to write lifelong and make the world a happier place to live with the power of her pen.
