NEW DELHI (Feb 25): Indian refiners of edible oils urged the government on Tuesday to stop issuing import licenses for palmolein to help avoid a crash in domestic prices of rapeseed.

India is the world's biggest importer of palm oil, an alternative ingredient to rapeseed oil in food. In a surprise move last week, the government issued import licences for 1.1 million tonnes of refined palmolein from Indonesia, weeks after curbing overseas purchases of the commodity.

On Jan. 8, India had put refined palm oil and palmolein on a list of restricted items, a move seen by trade experts as a retaliatory step against top supplier Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur criticised India's policy on Kashmir, a disputed Muslim-majority region also claimed by Pakistan.