India is the fourth-largest oilseed producer in the world. It has 20.8 per cent of the total area under cultivation globally, accounting for 10 per cent of global production. The country relies heavily on imports, which account for 57 per cent of its domestic demand for edible oil. In 2022-23, India imported 16.5 million tonne of edible oils. Domestic production fulfilled only 40-45 per cent of the country’s requirements. The NITI Aayog recently estimated that the national supply of edible oil is projected to increase to 16 MT by 2030 and 26.7 MT by 2047 under a Business-As-Usual (BAU) scenario. The edible oil seed production industry is struggling with a set of challenges such as limited access to good quality seeds, poor irrigation facilities in main oilseed-growing areas, Insufficient price support, lack of strong supply chains and lack of awareness about modern and sustainable farming methods among farmers. With favourable policies for oilseed production, use of new agri technologies and sustainable farming methods, modern storage and processing technologies and adoption of the Public-Private partnership model, the edible oil production industry is looking forward to cutting edible oil imports in future.

India depends heavily on edible oil imports due to several basic and policy-related challenges in oilseed farming. Some key issues include small and scattered landholdings that make mechanisation tough, limited access to good-quality seeds, and poor irrigation facilities in the main oilseed-growing areas. Further, many farmers find oilseeds less profitable compared to crops like rice, wheat or fruits, so they grow less of them. Moreover, there isn’t enough price support, strong supply chains, or awareness about modern farming methods. Without government support and strong partnerships with private players, India’s self-reliance in edible oil could be an uphill task.
It’s eye-opening to realise that India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil, consuming around 13 per cent of global production. Yet, only about 4 per cent of what Indian consumers use is grown domestically. The efforts towards increasing palm oil production are much needed as Palm produces up to 10 times more oil per hectare than crops like soyabean or sunflower, making it a highly efficient choice for making self-sufficient India in edible oil production. That’s precisely why the government‘s National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-OP) is prioritising palm cultivation, with a target of growing oil palm on 6.5 lakh hectares by 2025-26.

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