There will be no customs duty on import of rice bran and rice bran oil cake from October 1, against 15 per cent currently, according to a Finance Ministry notification.
As a result, import of rice bran from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh may turn viable.
“An estimated 50,000 to one lakh tonnes of rice bran could be imported from neighbouring countries, depending on the price parity,” said B.V. Mehta, Executive Director, Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI).
Rice bran oil is normally extracted from bran through the solvent extraction method. Bran, the brown layer on rice grain, has 10-25 per cent oil content.
After extracting the oil, the meal or the rice bran oil cake is used as cattle feed.
So far, there were no imports of rice bran as it was unviable due to a high customs duty of 15 per cent.
SEAI had recently urged the Government to reduce the customs duty to make imports more attractive to meet rising domestic demand for the oil.
output
India’s rice bran oil production is estimated at around nine lakh tonnes a year, according to industry estimates.
Of this, about three lakh tonnes are used directly as edible oil and the rest for blending with other edible oils and in vanaspati.
The demand for rice bran oil is on the rise, as it is considered a healthy and affordable cooking medium.
imports
India’s total vegetable oil imports for the first eight months of the oil year, starting November 2012 till June 2013, were up 12 per cent at 7.14 million tonnes over corresponding last year’s 6.39 million tonnes.