The president of the Central Organisation for Oil Industry & Trade (COOIT) Mr Mansukbhai Patel, had said that the problem of the oils industry and trade have been further accentuated by hikes in sales tax on vegetable oils, vanaspati, solvent extacted oils, oilcakes etc owing to the implementation of uniform floor rate of sales tax.

The industry had earlier managed to get sales tax rates reduced to two per cent or even less than that. Only Tamil Nadu has exempted vegetable oils from sales tax for sales within the state.

Mr Patel said the ``COOIT members have been representing to the Central government and the state governments, that as the vegetable oil sector is characterised by high turnover and low margins and provides essential ingredients of diet, it deserves to be treated like food grains and exempted from sales tax''.

He requested the state governments to reduce input taxes and give set-offs and to take up implementation of VAT to mitigate the impact of sales tax burden.

The Tamil Nadu minister said there was pressing need to increase the oilseeds output by increasing productivity as the per capita consumption in the country was expected to be 16 kg by 2015 against the current 9.81 kg. He said Tamil Nadu has set an example in this area also by achieving a record productivity of 1649 kg of groundnut per hectare. The national average is 900 kg.

Mr P Shankar, now secretary in the petroleum ministry and till recently secretary, food and consumer affairs and public distribution, said a decision on the controversial hexane control order would be announced by December-end after a report is submitted by the task force studying the issue.