Duty cut unlikely to reduce edible oil prices: COOIT

Indore, July 24 (UNI) While sharing the Centre's concern about rise in edible oil prices, the Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade (COOIT) today said the current duty cut between five to ten per cent, is unlikely to help reduce consumer prices.

''Past experience reveals that foreign suppliers jack up export prices correspondingly, mitigating any benefit to our import price parities. This is a knee-jerk reaction,'' COOIT Chairman Davish Jain told UNI.

Mr Jain said the only immediate solution was to cross-subsidise edible oil prices for BPL and LIG strata through PDS at the cost of imposing a slightly higher price on the rest of the consumers.

''This will allow remunerative returns for oilseed growers in line with the rest of the world's oilseed producers. There is dire need for an all-out thrust to raise indigenous oilseed production to augment domestic availability of edible oil and avoid a vulnerable situation of overdependence on imported edible oil supply,'' he added.

UNI