New Delhi: The government has cut basic customs duty on crude and refined edible oils, including palm, soybean and sunflower, in an effort to reduce import costs and potentially ease domestic prices.

The basic customs duty on crude soybean oil and crude palm oil has been halved to 5%, while the duty on refined soybean and palm oils has been cut to 27.5% from 32.5%.

For sunflower oil, the government has scrapped the 10% duty on crude imports, while the duty on refined sunflower oil has been lowered to 22.5% from 32.5%

The duty cuts, effective September 24, could provide some relief to food inflation.

The move is expected to reduce the landed cost of edible oils, potentially transmitting into lower domestic prices. India is among the world's largest edible oil importers, making global commodity prices, freight costs and the exchange rate important determinants of domestic edible oil inflation.