Speaking to the media in Bangalore on Tuesday, the Solvent Extractor's Association of India (SEA) president Ajay Tandon said the country was importing double the requirement of edible oil and as result the prices have been crashing alarmingly since a couple of months.

He urged the government to take corrective steps either by increasing the import duty from 15 per cent to 25 or by improving the oil seeds production to bridge the demand and supply gap.

Currently, the country's self- sufficiency level in edible oil was 70 per cent and 30 per cent of the demand was met through imports, he added.

At the meeting, SEA demanded the reduction of duty on oilseeds from 40 per cent to 5 per cent. The association also requested the government to include rice bran palm oil under the canalised list by removing it from the OGL.

The association alsodemanded correction of the ``inverted duty structure'' on oil seeds and oil bearing materials.

The total turnover of Indian edible oil sector is Rs 50,000 crore. The country produces 72 lakh tonnes of edible oil as against the consumption of 87 lakh tonnes.

The meeting was jointly organised by the Karnataka Oil Seeds Federation and SEA.