EXPLAINER-Why is India losing sleep over record high palm oil and other vegetable oil prices

Palm oil prices, the most widely consumed edible oil, also rallied 18% in 2020 after COVID-19 lockdowns curbed output from plantations in Southeast Asia. Benchmark futures in Malaysia touched 4, 142 ringgit ($1, 007.30) a tonne in mid-March, their highest since 2008.

NEW DELHI: India, the world's top importer of vegetable oil, will have to spend billions of extra dollars this year to buy more costly cooking oil from overseas and is mulling cutting taxes on those imports to soften the blow to the economy, industry officials have said.

The government is considering reducing taxes on vegetable oil imports after cooking oil prices hit record highs last month as it seeks to make food costs more affordable for its population of over 1.3 billion and keep price pressures at bay.