Clamour for import curbs on edible oils gets louder

Amid brightened prospective clients for a bumper oilseeds harvest this year, the demand from customers for curbs on imports of edible oils are on the increase.

The groundnut oil crushers and trade body, Saurashtra Oil Mills Affiliation (SOMA) has created a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking quantitative constraints on import of edible oils to shield interests of oilseed growers and nearby crushers.

Such demands think signficance as the state is on the lookout to obtain the purpose of ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliance) in oilseeds sector.

Highlighting the dwindling prices for the oilseed, groundnut oil body mentioned that though sowing data for groundnut and other oilseeds like soyabean, sunflower, safflower has been encouraging and may perhaps guide to a bumper crop this kharif season, there is a require for defense against imports of edible oils. “In coming months, the availability of domestic edible oils is most likely to go up. So, curtailing imports of edible oils has become unavoidable,” Sameer Shah, President, SOMA, wrote in the letter dated August seventeen.

A short while ago Soyabean Oilseed Processors Affiliation had demanded this sort of curbs on imports.

India is import-dependent to satisfy its virtually 22 million tonnes of yearly edible oil demand from customers, of which virtually 70 per cent or 15 million tonnes (like nine million tonnes of palm oil) is fulfilled via imports costing above ₹80,000 crore yearly.

But the sowing data demonstrates massive oilseed cultivation has taken spot in the course of latest kharif season 2020. It has reached 187.one lakh hectares as on August fourteen, up virtually 15 per cent from 163.5 lakh hectares recorded last year. The sowing is underneath development at several pockets.

Groundnut acreage in Gujarat — the most significant grower of the oilseed — has reached historic high stages at twenty.50 lakh hectares, about 32 per cent increased than the typical acreage. Nationally, groundnut acreage has touched 49.34 lakh hectares, up forty one per cent above last year. The sharp surge in oilseeds cultivation is a fallout of superior prices last year and government’s force for self-reliance in the oilseeds sector. But at a time, when bulk consuming sectors this sort of as restaurants, accommodations and event organisers remain impacted because of to Covid-19-induced lockdown, the ongoing imports of edible oils is causing a glut predicament, thereby discouraging the growers with decreased oilseed prices. Groundnut prices have fallen from ₹6,two hundred per quintal to ₹5,three hundred per quintal since the lockdown. “This is incredibly detrimental to our farmers,” Shah explained.

Of the overall, about 22 million tonnes of edible oil intake in India, 43 per cent is palm oil, 21per cent soybean, 16 per cent sunflower oil, four p.c mustard oil and Other oils 16 per cent. India makes about seven.three million tonnes of veg oils domestically, of which 35 per cent is rapeseed oil, 21 per cent is soybean oil, one per cent is sunflower oil and 43 per cent is other individuals like groundnut oil, sesame seed oils and so forth.

Defense from imports will further more brighten the prospective clients for domestically developed oilseeds like soybean, sunflower, groundnut and sesame seed.

But there is one more portion of edible oil trade, the solvent players and importers led by the Solvent Extractors’ Affiliation of India (SEA) who had raised robust objection to the thought of quantitative constraints expressing fears of corruption and administrative difficulties in managing the quota program.