Good news! Import duty on items including milk and maize reduced; Farmers may be impacted.

New Delhi: The third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has begun with a major decision to control rising inflation. The Modi government on Wednesday reduced import duty on maize, crude sunflower oil, mustard oil, and milk powder under the Tariff-Rate Quota (TRQ). This move is expected to increase imports, directly affecting the country’s farmers.

Import duty on milk powder, maize, sunflower, and mustard oil has been reduced. As a result, more goods will be imported from abroad. This influx of foreign goods is likely to severely impact farmers producing milk, soybean, and maize. Milk prices have already fallen, and with the import of milk powder, farmers fear further declines.

Decisions to control inflation: India has permitted the import of 150,000 metric tonnes of sunflower oil, 500,000 tonnes of maize, 10,000 tonnes of milk powder, and 150,000 tonnes of mustard oil, according to the government. The inflation rate has remained above 8 percent since November 2023. This decision aims to control this inflation.

The government has short-listed cooperatives and government companies such as the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Cooperative Dairy Federation (NCDF), and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) for imports. Meanwhile, “there was no need to allow imports of sunflower and mustard oil at subsidized rates,” said a World Trade Organization dealer in Mumbai.