Directorate General of Foreign Trade has issued a Notification No. 39/2015-2020 dated 8^th January 2020 amending the import policy of Refined Palm Oil (HS 15119010), Refined Palmolein (HS 15119020) and Other (HS 15119090) from ‘Free’ to ‘Restricted’. This notification is applicable on import from all countries. At present, there is no proposal to impose a restriction on import of any item from Malaysia.

Country needs 25 million tonnes of edible oils to meet its requirement at current consumption level of 19 kg per person per year. Out of the total requirement, 10.50 million tonnes is produced domestically from primary (Soybean, Rapeseed & Mustard, Groundnut, Sunflower, Safflower & Niger) and secondary sources (Oil palm, Coconut, Rice Bran, Cotton seeds & Tree Borne Oilseeds) and remaining 60%, is met through import. The oilseed production of the country has been growing impressively. Despite this, there exists a gap between the demand and supply of oilseeds, which has necessitated sizeable quantities of imports.

The major challenges in oilseed production is largely rain-fed conditions (70% area), high seed cost (Groundnut and Soybean), small holding with limited resources, low seed replacement rate and low productivity.

To increase domestic availability and reduce import dependency, a National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO) is proposed for next five years (2020-21 to 2024-25). NMEO covering three Sub-Missions to increase production of oilseeds and edible oils from (i) Primary Sources (Annual Crops, Plantation Crops and Edible TBOs), (ii) Secondary Sources (Rice bran oil and Cotton seed oil) and (iii) Consumer Awareness for maintaining edible oil consumption constant at 19.00 kg per person per annum. The proposed mission will aim to increase production from 30.88 to 47.80 million tonnes of oilseeds which will produce 7.00 to 11.00 million tonnes of edible oils from Primary Sources by 2024-25. Similarly edible oils from secondary sources will be doubled from 3.50 to 7.00 million tonnes.

The following action point will be initiated for increasing production and productivity of oil seeds and promotion of Secondary Sources of Edible oils: 

• Increasing seed replacement rate and varietal replacement rate
• Promotion of oil seed in rice fallow/ potato areas
• Promotion of oil seeds through intercropping
• Extending oil seed cultivation in non-traditional area
• Targeting 100 low productivity districts
• Crop diversification in different reasons
• Promotion of community based oil extraction unit
• Value addition and promotion of export
• Promotion of rice bran and cotton seed oil
• Consumer awareness for judicious consumption of oils for good health 

The above strategies will deliberate the following output by the end of 2024-25: 

• Oil seed production will be increased from 30.88 to 47.80 million tonnes
• Productivity will be increase from 1263 to 1587 kg per ha
• Reduction in import dependence from 60% to 45%
• Edible oil production will be 18.00 million tonne from 10.50 million tonnes.

This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in written replies in the Rajya Sabha today.

Import policy change: refined palm oil moved to restricted category, paired with a mission to reduce import dependence. Import policy for Refined Palm Oil and specified HS lines has been amended from 'Free' to 'Restricted', applying to imports from all countries without targeting any specific country; concurrently, a proposed five year National Mission on Edible Oils seeks to raise oilseed production and productivity, double secondary source edible oils, promote seed replacement and cultivation expansion, and reduce import dependence by 2024-25.