New Delhi, Mar 18: The government has banned the export of all edible oils for a period of one year, a move considered to boost the domestic supplies and contain the rising prices of vegetable oils in the country.

The restriction is effective from March 17 for a period of one year, Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification on its website.

India mainly exports groundnut oil and coconut oil. The country exported about 30,000 tons of groundnut oil and 5,000 each of coconut oil and mustard oil during the first four months of edible oil year, a Mumbai-based vegetable oils trade body, the Solvent Extractors` Association (SEA) said.

Edible oil year runs from November to October.

India annually consumes about 10 million tons of edible oils, with imports contributing half of that.

Last month, the country`s vegetable oils imports surged by nearly three-fold to 4.30 lakh tons compared to 1.50 lakh tons in the previous year. While non-edible oils went up by four times at 84,237 tons, SEA data said.