EDIBLE OIL SCENARIO IN INDIA

TOPIC: Geography

Context- The war in Ukraine exposes India’s vulnerability in edible oils similar to what the 1991 Gulf War did vis-à-vis petroleum.

Concept-

Edible Oil Scenario:

Oilseeds and edible oils are two of the most sensitive essential commodities.
India is one of the largest producer of oilseeds in the world.
India is the second largest consumer and largest importer of vegetable oil in the world.
Sunflower is India’s fourth most consumed cooking oil, after palm, soyabean and mustard.
- The country imports about 98 per cent of its sunflower oil requirement — almost 93 per cent of that coming from Ukraine and Russia.
India also imports the bulk of its soyabean oil from Argentina and Brazil and palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.
The ongoing conflict and disruption in shipments from Black Sea ports is rubbing off on these oils too, compounded by dry weather in South America and Indonesia imposing a 20 per cent domestic market sale obligation on its palm oil exporters.

Types of Oils commonly in use in India:

India has a wide range of oilseeds crops grown in its different agro climatic zones.
Groundnut, mustard. rapeseed, sesame, safflower, linseed, nigerseed. castor are the major traditionally cultivated oilseeds.
Soybean and sunflower have also assumed importance in recent years.
Coconut is most important amongst the plantation crops.
Among the non-conventional oils, rice bran oil and cottonseed oil are the most important.
In addition, oilseeds of tree and forest origin, which grow mostly in tribal inhabited areas, are also a significant source of oils.

Consumption Pattern of Edible Oils in India:

India is a vast country and inhabitants of several of its regions have developed specific preference for certain oils largely depending upon the oils available in the region.
For example, people in the South and West prefer groundnut oil while those in the East and North use mustard. rapeseed oil.
Likewise several pockets in the South have a preference for coconut and sesame oil.
Oils such as soyabean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, palm oil and its liquid fraction- palmolein which were earlier not known have now entered the kitchen.
The share of raw oil, refined oil and vanaspati in the total edible oil market is estimated roughly at 35%, 60% and 5% respectively.
About 56 % of domestic demand of edible oils is met through imports out of which palm oil/palmolein constitutes about 54%.
- Import of edible oils is under Open General License (OGL).