India announces $1.48 billion plan to expand oilseed production

India will launch a 110 billion-rupee ($1.48 billion) plan to boost domestic oilseed production to make the country self-sufficient in vegetable oils, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday. The goal is to reduce the costly imports of products.

India is the world’s largest importer of vegetable oils, spending an average of 8.5 billion to 10 billion dollars a year on imports.

The country produces less than half of the approximately 24 million tons of vegetable oils it consumes annually. The remainder is imported, with purchases of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, soybean oil from Brazil and Argentina, and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine.

India exports agricultural commodities such as sugar and rice to global markets, but on average, local oilseed production is nearly six times smaller than rice and wheat.

See below a history of Brazilian soybean oil exports to India since 2018. Data are from DataLiner:

Brazilian Soybean Oil Exports (HS 1507) to India | Jan 2018 to Jun 2021 | WTMT

Graph source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

“The government will invest more than 110 billion rupees through the National Oilseeds and Palm Oil Mission to provide producers with everything possible, including better seeds and technologies,” Modi said on Twitter. “At a time when India is emerging as a major exporter of agricultural products, we should not depend on imports for our vegetable oil needs,” added the prime minister.

Source: Money Times

To read the full original article, visit the link:

https://www.moneytimes.com.br/india-anuncia-plano-de-us-148-bi-para-ampliar-producao-de-oleaginosas/

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