India is the world’s largest importer of edible oil, as it meets 60 per cent of its requirements through imports. The country buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, while it imports soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina and Brazil.
New Delhi: The Central government has extended the reduced customs duty applicable to edible oil imports by a year in order to keep prices in check. The government initially lowered the basic customs duty on crude palm oil, crude sunflower oil, and crude soyoil from 17.5 percent to 12.5 percent until March 2024, as prices were spiraling out of control. This date for the reduced duty to be applicable has now been extended to March 2025, as per a report covered by news agency IANS.
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India is the world’s largest importer of edible oil, as it meets 60 per cent of its requirements through imports. The country buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, while it imports soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina and Brazil.
National Mission On Edible Oils-Oil Palm Launched
The Narendra Modi government launched the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) in August 2021, allocating Rs 11,040 crore with the objective of encouraging domestic oilseed production and increasing the area under oil palm cultivation aggressively across various states in India in order to reduce dependence on imports of edible oils.
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Around 9 million tonnes of palm oil are imported every year to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore which is around 56% of the total imports of edible oil. At present, against a total potential area of around 28 lakh hectares, only 3.70 lakh hectares is under oil palm cultivation.
The target fixed for oil palm area expansion by 2025-26 under NMEO-OP is to increase the area of oil palm to 10 lakh hectares by 2025-26 from 3.5 lakh ha during 2019-20 (that is, an additional 6.50 lakh ha), of which 3.28 lakh ha will be in the north-eastern states, with a target of 66 lakh tonnes set for the production of FFBs (fresh fruit bunches), which are pressed to produce crude palm oil.
The government aims to increase crude palm oil production from the 2019-20 level of 0.27 lakh tonnes to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26.
Considering the growing domestic demand for edible oils, the staggering deficiency, and the cost to the exchequer on account of imports, the government considers the urgency of scaling up the oil palm area of national interest. The government has substantially increased the subsidies for ongoing components and inputs required for cultivation. For the first time, the government introduced a viability price for fresh fruit bunches.
(With inputs from agencies)
