India will extend tariffs on edible oil imports for another year till March 2025 as the world's largest vegetable oil importer moves to control local prices, the government said in a notification issued late Monday.

The lower import tariff structure for gross palm oil, gross sunflower oil and gross soybean oil will expire in March 2024.

Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of vegetable oil brokerage firm Sunvin Group, said, "The decision was expected as the government is keen to control prices ahead of elections."

India's annual retail inflation grew at its fastest pace in four months in December, driven by rising prices of some food items.

In an effort to lower prices, the government banned wheat exports in 2022 and banned shipments of non-Indian aromatic rice overseas last year. New Delhi also stopped sugar exports from sugar mills this year.

India's trade minister, Piyush Goyal, said on Saturday that India will continue to enforce export restrictions on wheat, rice and sugar for now.

"The notification will not change the current tariff structure. Hence, there will not be any impact on local prices or import patterns," Bajoria said.

India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and imports soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

India's palm oil imports rose to the highest level in four months in December as purchases of refined palm oil concentrate surged on competitive prices.

BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extraction Association of India, said that while the government's goal is to maintain price stability, the long-term policy has adversely affected local oilseed growers.

Mehta said, "The pressure on oilseed prices from cheap imports has actually discouraged them from growing more oilseeds."

More than two-thirds of India's edible oil needs are met through imports, but the country has been struggling to increase oilseed production as farmers find other crops more profitable.