The government on Tuesday exempted Customs Duty and Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess on 20 lakh metric tonnes yearly import of crude soybean and sunflower oil to ease domestic prices.

The duty-free import of 20 lakh tonnes per year would be applicable for two financial years (2022-23, 2023-24) for crude soybean oil and crude sunflower oil, the Finance Ministry said in a notification.

The exemption will help cool down domestic prices and control inflation.

“This will provide significant relief to the consumers,” the CBIC tweeted.

Last week, the government had cut Excise Duty on petrol and diesel and also waived Customs Duty on some raw materials used in steel and plastic industry to control spiralling prices. Besides, Export Duty was hiked on iron ore and iron pellets.

A rise in price across all items from fuel to vegetables and cooking oil had pushed WPI or Wholesale Price Index-based inflation to a record high of 15.08 per cent in April and retail inflation to a near eight-year high of 7.79 per cent.

High inflation had prompted the Reserve Bank of India to hold an unscheduled meeting to raise the benchmark interest rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 per cent earlier this month.