₹11,000 crore for new edible oil mission

• The Government will spend ₹11,000 crores for the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) will be over a five-year period.
• This mission will boost domestic oilseed production and make the country self-sufficient in cooking oils.
• India is the world's biggest vegetable oil importer.

Key points:

• Import dependence on edible oils is as high as 60%, with the import bill hovering around Rs 75,000 crore per year.
• Imports of Edible Oil items have surged by 65% on year to $17 billion in the 2020-21 oil year (November-October) due to a spike in global prices.
• The government appropriates more than a third of the import value through high import taxes on edible oils, which range from 30% to 49.5% at present.
• The government in June had slashed basic import duty on crude palm oil to 10% from 15%.
• But the agri cess (17.5%) and social welfare cess (10%) were unchanged, making effective duty 30.25%.
• Refined oils of all varieties have higher duty.
• Oil seeds output has increased to 37.31 million tonne (MT) in 2020-21 from 27.51 MT in 2014-15, while the area has gone up to 28.82 million hectares from 25.99 million hectares during this period.
• The overall yield has increased to 1,295 kg/ hectare from 1,075 kg/ hectare.
• The availability of edible oils from domestic production is around 8 MT against annual consumption of over 21 MT.
• Oilseed acreage rose only 8.6% over that six year period, yields rose more than 20%.

National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP):

• The NMEO-OP’s predecessor was the National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm, which was launched in 2014-15.
• Later, it was merged with the National Food Security Mission.
• NMEO proposal would aim to:

1. reduce import dependence from 60% to 45% by 2024-25
2. raise the area under oil palm cultivation to 10 lakh hectares by 2025-26 and 16.7 lakh hectares by 2029-30.
3. achieve self-reliance in edible oil.

• It will be achieved by increasing domestic edible oil production from 10.5 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes, a 70% growth target.
• The special emphasis of the scheme will be in India’s north-eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the conducive weather conditions in the regions.
• The government will ensure that farmers get all the needed facilities, from quality seeds to technology.
• Under the scheme, oil palm farmers will be provided financial assistance and will get remuneration under a price and viability formula.