The All India Edible Oil Traders Federation has said that India has succeeded in reducing the total edible oil imports by 9.87 percent during November-July of oil year 2024-25 (November-October).
According to the available data, India imported 107.56 lakh tonnes of edible oil during November-July 2024-25, while 119.35 lakh tonnes were imported during the same period of 2023-24.
The traders give credit to the campaign by the Government of India to control the import of foreign oils seems to be partially successful for the reduction in the edible oil imports.
Further, Nepal exported mainly refined soybean oil and sunflower oil and a small quantity of RBD palmolein and rapeseed oil to India at zero duty under the SAFTA agreement.
Imports from Nepal stood at 5.21 lakh tonnes during November-June 2024-25 (eight months) while the total edible oil imports by India in the first nine months of oil year 2024-25 stood at 112.77 lt (107.56 lt + 5.21 lt from Nepal).
Shankar Thakkar, president of the federation, informed that the imports of refined oils (RBD palmolein) have declined sharply during this period. The increase in import duty differential between CPO (crude palm oil) and RBD palmolein, ranging from 8.25 per cent to 19.25 per cent from May 31, 2025, has made import of refined oil unviable.
India imported 9.87 tonnes of RBD palmolein during November-July 2024-25 as against 15.18 tonnes in the same period of the previous oil year. India imported 5,000 tonnes of RBD palmolein in July 2025 as against 1.36 tonnes in July 2024.
Crude edible oils also declined
India imported 97.68 litres of crude edible oils during the first nine months of oil year 2024-25 (104.16 litres in the first nine months of oil year 2023-24). While imports of CPO and sunflower oil declined, crude soybean oil (degumm) increased during the first three quarters of the oil year 2024-25.
India imported 41.09 litres of CPO (52.39 litres) and 20.92 litres of sunflower oil (28.30 litres) during November-July of oil year 2024-25. Imports of soybean oil (degumm) increased to 35.22 litres (22.59 litres) during this period.
However, imports of vegetable oils increased by 6 per cent in the first quarter of oil year 2024-25 (November-January) due to higher imports of soybean and sunflower oil.
In the second quarter (February-April), imports of vegetable oils declined by 20 per cent due to high prices of RBD palmolein and CPO. Imports of vegetable oils increased to 43.15 lakh tonnes in the third quarter (May-July). However, imports have declined by 13 per cent as compared to the third quarter of oil year 2023-24., mainly due to record imports of 18.6 lakh tonnes during July 2024.
Thakkar described the government's decision as a bold and timely step and said that this has reduced the import of refined palmolein and the demand has again turned towards crude oil, giving new energy to the domestic refining sector wherein some refineries which were on the verge of closure have started reviving.
"This move is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' vision, which will boost domestic manufacturing, increase capacity utilisation, encourage value addition and create employment opportunities. This decision is a win-win for the industry, the government and consumers," said Thakkar.