NEW DELHI: The government has extended the ban on the export of edible oils till September 2010, a move aimed at boosting domestic supply.
The export restriction is already in place till mid-March 2010.
The ban will be applicable till September 30, 2010, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
However, the ban order is not applicable on exports of edible oils in branded consumer packs of up to 5 kg, subject to a limit of 10,000 tonnes till September 2010.
The notification added that the extension of the export ban, however, would not be applicable to the relaxations allowed earlier.
Before the ban was slapped last year, India exported mainly groundnut and coconut oils.
As per industry estimates, vegetable oil imports in India rose 48 per cent in February to 7.62 lakh tonnes.
As per the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, the country's vegetable oil import rose marginally by 4 per cent to 5.96 lakh tonnes in July, compared with 5.71 lakh tonnes in a year-ago period.
Source : The Economic Times