JAKARTA: India has no plans to change its import duties for palm oil and products, and has sufficient rice supplies to export to Indonesia without need for a government-to-government scheme, trade ministers from both countries said on Tuesday.
India's Trade Minister, Anand Sharma, is in Jakarta for trade talks with his Indonesian counterpart, Mari Pangestu.
Indian government and industry sources said last month the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils is considering an industry request to raise import duties on refined palm oil, after Indonesia lowered export taxes on the product, a move seen as threatening India's refining industry.
Earlier on Tuesday, an Indonesian trade ministry official said India was unlikely to raise import duties for palm oil products to protect its domestic refiners, as this will stoke food inflation in the country.
The visit also comes only days after the Indonesian trade minister said the country would seek alternative shipments of rice after the reported cancellation of a proposed sale of 300,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand.
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