Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The occasion was the inauguration of a mega textile park and a petroleum terminal in Warangal, Telangana and the Chief Guest doing the honours was Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the highlight of his speech was – besides an exhortation to work from home, buy less gold and avoid foreign travel – to reduce the consumption of cooking oil.
The logic goes beyond concerns over health. India is the world’s largest importer of edible oils. In 2024-25 alone, the country spent nearly ₹1.61 lakh crore ($18–20 billion) on imports of this commodity. Reducing consumption by even 10 per cent would save the country at least Rs 16,000 crore or $2 billion.
The West Asia crisis has already put crude oil supplies under strain and prices have gone up significantly, denting the country’s forex reserves. With India already depending on imports to meet almost 85 per cent of its crude requirements, the Government aims to move away from a 60 per cent import dependency at least in edible oils.
Against a total domestic demand of around 26 million tonne cooking oil, the country produces only 10 million tonne. The shortfall of 16 million tonne is met through imports, of mainly palm oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil.
Total oilseed production in India is around 43 million tonne, of which only about 25 per cent to 30 per cent gets converted into refined oil. The Government’s goal is to increase raw oilseed production to 70 million tonne by 2030-31, to achieve self-sufficiency.
Imports: Beyond palm oil
While palm oil is the single largest item which is imported – roughly 8 million tonne from Indonesia and Malaysia – due to its use in the food processing industry and its low cost, India also imports massive quantities of “soft oils” used specifically in household cooking.
About 5 million tonne of soybean oil is imported from Argentina and Brazil. From Russia and Ukraine we import approximately 3 million tonne of sunflower oil. And it is these oils which the Prime Minister urged people to reduce consumption of since they are becoming staples in households.
The reason behind this is the changing palate of Indian consumers. They are increasingly gravitating towards neutral and odourless cooking mediums which are as suitable for making pastas as they are for frying chips. This is where soybean oil and sunflower oil come into the picture as both are ultra refined and have no taste or flavour profile.
Traditional oils
The 10-million-tonne of domestic cooking oil which India produces comprises mainly groundnut oil, mustard oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil and sesame oil. There is no import dependency for these varieties since there is enough production to meet the local demand. In fact, India produces surplus groundnut oil which is exported to China and South-East Asia. Against a demand of 6.5 lakh tonne, we produce 8.6 lakh tonne.
Similarly, India has self-sufficiency in mustard oil which caters to roughly 40 per cent of the domestic production. From rice bran we extract the second-largest quantity of oil in the world. We are not only largely sufficient in rice bran oil for our current consumption levels but we even export a portion of it. Being a by-product of the massive rice milling industry, its production is stable.
Rice bran oil is also being increasingly used as a “healthier” blending agent or a standalone cooking oil in the horeca (hotel, restaurant, and cafe) sector to offset the cost of imported oils.
Beyond these three, India is also largely sufficient in other traditional, smaller-volume oils, such as sesame (til) oil. It is used primarily in Southern India. We are also a major producer of coconut oil which is sufficient to meet the domestic needs.
We are the global leader in production of castor oil which is a major export commodity for us, though this is largely for industrial use rather than cooking.
Volume versus variety
While we are “sufficient” in mustard oil (producing roughly 12–13 million tonne of seeds), that only translates to about 3.5-4 million tonne of actual oil. Even if we used every drop of domestic mustard, groundnut, and coconut oil, we would still have a 16-million-tonne hole in our supply.
Soybean and sunflower oils are the “bulk fillers” that bridge this massive deficit. Traditional oils also have very strong sensory profiles — they are pungent, nutty, or distinctively aromatic. Also, mustard and groundnut are “oil-first” crops, making them inherently more expensive to produce at a purely industrial scale.
Despite global volatility, imported oils are often cheaper due to the sheer scale of international production.
Soybean oil remains nearly ₹30 cheaper per kg than mustard oil. It is a by-product of the massive global soy-protein industry. Since the world grows soy primarily for animal feed (soymeal), the oil is produced in such vast quantities that it is “dumped” onto the global market at highly competitive prices.
For a budget-conscious household or a commercial kitchen (horeca sector), that price difference is the deciding factor.
The processed food industry (biscuits, snacks, instant noodles) and the vanaspati (vegetable ghee) industry also require oils that are stable and cheap.