Govt planning to launch National Mission on Edible Oil in the near future

Experts have suggested activating the oilseed mission and creating an oilseed development fund while looking at possibility of allowing GM oilseeds into the country

As reliance on imported edible oil is growing, India needs to relook at ways to address it to improve domestic availability. Two thirds of the domestic demand is met by imported oil and this is considered very high. Experts have suggested creating an oilseed development fund while looking at the possibility of permitting GM oilseeds to raise domestic availability. So far, government policies have focused on restricting imports and some tariff measures.

“The government is seriously concerned about stagnant oilseeds production and the rising import of edible oils to the tune of 15 million tonnes per annum, costing the exchequer over Rs 75,000 crore. To increase production of oilseeds from the current 30 million tonnes to over 47 million tonnes by 2024-25, the government plans to launch the national mission on edible oil programme in the next three months,” said Atul Chaturvedi, president of the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India.

Sources in the industry, however, said that the Budget for 2020-21 may allocate funds for this mission. According to data from SEA, India’s average oilseeds production in the last few years has been 28-30 million tonnes and production of edible oil is 7.5 to 8 million tonnes. Production and refining in India was also lower because of high imports. In the current year, crude palm oil prices have increased almost 50 per cent in last six months in the international market. This has helped in the curtailment of imports…