India on Thursday approved a 101 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) program to double edible oil production in the country within seven years, to reduce dependence on costly imports, the government said in a statement.
The world’s largest importer of edible oils, India currently meets almost two-thirds of its demand by purchasing palm oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil abroad, mainly from from Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Under the program, oilseed productivity will be increased by promoting high-yielding, high-oil varieties and expanding cultivation. Cutting-edge technologies such as genome editing will be used to develop superior seeds, the statement said.
The program aims to increase edible oil production from the current 12.7 million tonnes to 25.45 million tonnes by 2030-31, which will help meet about 72 per cent of the country’s projected domestic requirements.
The country’s edible oil import bill has risen from $2.2 billion in 2006/07 to $15 billion in 2023/24. During the same period, India’s edible oil imports increased from 4.37 million tonnes to 15.5 million tonnes.
Last month, India increased the basic import tax on crude and refined edible oils by 20 percentage points to protect farmers facing falling oilseed prices.
($1 = 83.9960 Indian rupees)
