ENA Sectors 2024-03-05 14:48:07 <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Hyderabad, Mar 5 (KNN)</strong> The Telangana Government has urged the Union Government to reinstate the basic customs duty on crude palm oil to stabilise domestic prices and ensure fair returns for farmers, aiming for a target price of Rs 18,000 per tonne to boost farmer confidence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Presently, the basic customs duty on crude palm oil, along with crude soybean oil and crude sunflower oil, stands at zero. However, factoring in the 5 per cent agri cess and 10 per cent social welfare cess, the effective duty on crude varieties of these three edible oils amounts to 5.5 per cent.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Telangana, a frontrunner in oil palm plantations nationwide with two lakh acres under cultivation, has ambitiously planned to expand the acreage to over eight lakh hectares (lha) within the next five years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The Telangana government, embarking on an oil palm mission covering 31 out of the 33 districts in the state, has authorised 14 companies to establish processing centres and refineries.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao emphasised the establishment of 42 nurseries to meet demand and promote cultivation.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">According to Rao, the oil palm area in the state surged to 80,000 hectares in 2023-24 from zero in 1992-93 when promotion of the plantation began.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm revealed that around 9 million tonnes (mt) of palm oil is imported annually, costing the exchequer Rs 40,000 crore.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">With a potential area estimated at 28 lha, the country presently cultivates the plantation crop only in 3.70 lha, with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as major contributors.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Telangana aims to transition a significant portion of farmers from paddy to oil palm cultivation, with the paddy area witnessing substantial growth in recent years due to improved irrigation facilities following the inauguration of the Kaleshwaram project.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><em><strong>(KNN Bureau)</strong></em></span></p> 36942 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/sectors/telangana-urges-reimposition-of-customs-duty-on-crude-palm-oil-to-support-farmers 2024-03-05 14:48:07 knnindia.co.in