Indian government has raised the import tax on crude edible oils and refined oils by 5 percentage points each to protect local farmers from rising imports from Malaysia and Indonesia.
India is the world's biggest vegetable oil importer. It meets nearly 60 percent of its 18-19 million tonnes of annual demand from overseas, mostly in the form of palm oil from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia.
The increase in import duties is expected to hit Malaysian palm oil futures, the regional benchmark.
Still, the food ministry had sought to double the tax on crude edible oils while increasing that on refined oils by 50 percent.
