Increase in Import Duty of Edible Oils is a Transformational Step by the Government – Dinesh Shahra

Business Wire IndiaMr. Dinesh Shahra, Managing Director & CEO, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited has welcomed the recently announced increase in import duty on crude and refined edible oils, terming it a transformation step by the Government. In a notification issued on November 17, 2017, the Government has increased import duties on various edible oils ranging between 60% to even 100% on some oils like crude palm oil.

Mr. Shahra said, "The earlier marginal increase did not have the desired benefits for farmers and edible oil producers. The significant increase announced now augurs well for the future of the Indian edible oil industry, including farmers and other stakeholders.

Our soyabean crushing operations, which have been showing a slow uptrend, should receive a major boost with the increase in import duty on crude edible oil. We have the largest crushing capacity in India with 3.72 million MT capacities across 10 locations, and after this increase, the capacity utilization should increase further to good levels. In addition, we are also expecting the crush margins to improve as well the domestic oil seed production to go up as it would be more commercially attractive for farmers.

We also expect this to positively impact our refining operations; especially palm oil refining and we expect the refining margins to increase. The previous increase in import duty had already resulted in a significant increase in refining volumes to the tune of 40 to 50%, due to a shift from import of RBD palmolein (Refined bleached deodorised palmolein) which does not require further processing to CPO (Crude palm oil) which needs to undergo processing and refining at our facilities. Post the current increase, we see a further increase in capacity utilization of the processing and refining facilities.

The increase in import duty on soybean will come as a major support to the farmers who can now look forward to attractive remuneration for their produce. This will encourage them to sow more soybean in the future and will go a long way in making India self-reliant in edible oils."
About Ruchi Soya Industries Limited

Ruchi Soya is India's leading Agri and Food FMCG company with a turnover of USD 3 billion. It enjoys Number 1 position in soy foods category in India and is one of India's largest players in the cooking oils segment of the country. Its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Gold and Ruchi Star. An integrated player from farm to fork; Ruchi Soya is also among the pioneers of oil palm plantations in India. It is one of the highest exporters of value added soybean products like soy meal, textured soy protein and soy lecithin. Ruchi Soya has also diversified into renewable energy and is committed to environmental protection as part of its business strategy that reinforces its mission of becoming a truly sustainable company.