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NITI Aayog paper recommends import of agri products like soybean & corn from US
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Tuesday, 24 June, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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The NITI Aayog has recommended import of agricultural products like soybean and corn from the US. The Ayog in a working paper prepared by NITI Ayog member Ramesh Chand has advocated opening of the Indian market to specific products that do not disturb the balance of trade and threaten local producers.
The working paper of NITI Ayog published in May 2025 was titled ‘Promoting India-US Agricultural Trade Under new US Trade Regime’.
“India is the largest importer of edible oil in the world and the US has a huge export surplus of soybean which is GM. India can offer some concessions to the US in import of soybean oil to meet US demands to reduce trade imbalance, without harming domestic production. We should also explore the option of importing soybean seed and use it for extracting oil in the coastal areas and take oil into the domestic market and export meal for which there is adequate overseas demand. This will avoid GM feed into the Indian market,” reads the working paper.
GM products are not allowed in India and the matter is under judicial review.
The paper added that such options avoid competition with Indian farmers while accommodating US interests within the $18 billion edible oil import window. This move alone can fetch a lot of benefits like: (i) bridge the trade gap with USA in agriculture, (ii) negate the case for reciprocal tariffs and (iii) open further window for export to USA.
Similarly, the paper suggests corn may be imported for ethanol blending and its by-products, like Distiller’s Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), can be entirely exported to avoid GM feed in the country, as US corn is cheaper and can be used to meet India’s biofuel targets without disrupting local food and feed markets.
Meanwhile, the paper also talks about protection of the sensitive sectors through non-tariff measures.
“Sensitive products like dairy and poultry can be protected in bilateral trade arrangements. Poultry in the US is sensitive to frequent disease outbreaks (e.g., avian flu). This opens the option for non-tariff barriers while enforcing SPS norms. There is also a strong possibility of improving global competitiveness of Indian dairy and raising the export of quality dairy products to the USA as seen in the case of recent marketing of Amul milk in the USA,” the paper reads.
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