New Delhi, Sep 30, 2025 – The Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association (IVPA), which represents the country’s edible oil refining industry, has called for an accelerated policy push to make India self‑sufficient in edible oil production. The appeal comes amid signs of declining imports and shifting global trade dynamics.
📉 Declining Imports & Policy Pressure
IVPA noted that edible oil imports have recently shown signs of decline, driven by global price volatility, evolving free trade agreements, and changing domestic policy landscapes.
Given these conditions, the association urged a stronger push to reduce reliance on imports and build a robust domestic edible oil ecosystem.
🏛️ Strategic & Structural Adjustments
In its statement after the 48th Annual General Meeting, the IVPA emphasized the delicate balance needed between boosting farmers’ incomes through fair MSPs (Minimum Support Prices), managing edible oil–driven inflation, and maintaining food price stability.
Sudhakar Desai, reappointed as IVPA President for 2025–26, reaffirmed the urgency of accelerating forward momentum.
The association also recommended policy levers including — but not limited to — revising import duty structures, encouraging refined domestic production, and ensuring tariff gaps between crude and refined oils favor home processing.
⚠️ Challenges & Contrasting Trends
One major obstacle is the government’s growing push for ethanol production, which is altering farmers’ cropping decisions: many are shifting from oilseed cultivation toward corn and rice, which are more profitable under current incentives. This trend threatens to undercut efforts to ramp up domestic edible oil output.
Further, IVPA has raised concerns over surging imports of refined palm oil, especially under skewed duty structures and free trade agreements (for instance via Nepal), which can erode demand for locally processed oils and unfairly depress farmgate prices.
📈 Outlook & Next Steps
The IVPA expects that while imports may see short‑term resurgence owing to lower global prices and festival demand, long‑term trends must shift toward self‑sufficiency.
Key recommended reforms from the IVPA include:
- Raising the duty differential between crude and refined edible oils to favor domestic refining.
- Imposing meaningful import duties on refined oils to protect the local industry.
- Curbing duty‑free imports from neighboring countries that may be used to circumvent trade rules and disadvantage Indian producers.
- Supporting oilseed cultivation and expanding cultivation of crops like mustard, soybean, groundnut, sunflower, and deepening oil palm cultivation in suitable areas.
