Govt aims to triple palm oil production by 2030
The government is aiming to increase domestic palm oil production from current level of 0.35 million tonne (MT) to a MT by 2030 under the national oil palm mission through adding at least 0.1 million hectare (MH) of new plantation annually in the five to six years, according to a leading industry official.
“While in FY23, 42,000 hectare of new palm plantation was added while in the current fiscal atleast 70,000 hectare of plantation is likely to be added,” Sougata Niyogi, head, Godrej Agrovet, palm oil division, which owns a third of total palm plantation in the country told FE. He said that in FY25, the country is expected to add 0.1 MH of additional plantation.
An agriculture ministry official said the plan is to increase total area under palm by several companies including Godrej Agrovet, Patanjali Food and 3F oil palm agrotech industries to 0.65 MH in the next 5 – 6 years from current level of 0.3 MH.
“While the domestic production of palm oil is likely to increase to a MT by 2030, because of the projected rise in annual domestic consumption of edible oil from the current level of 24 MT to 30 MT by 2030, the country’s import dependence would continue,” an official with a palm oil processor said.
Currently India imports around 14 MT of edible oil and in the current oil year (October-September), the imports are likely to touch a record 17 MT because of the sharp fall in global prices of palm, soybean and sunflower oil prices . Around 8 MT of palm oil is imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, while other oils, such as soya and sunflower, come from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.
In August 2021, the national oil palm mission was launched with an investment of Rs 11,040 crore. Out of which the centre’s share is Rs 8,844 crore, while the rest is contributed by the state government for providing viability gap funding and financial assistance for planting material.
“Through bringing in more area under palm plantation in the next three years especially in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram we are aiming to boost domestic output and reduce import dependence,” an official said.
Meanwhile, the Godrej Agrovet announced investment of Rs 300 crore over the next 3-4 years in setting up the integrated palm oil complex in Khammam district Telangana last week. With the 65000 hectares of palm plantation across the country, the company is aiming to increase plantation by 0.12 MH by 2027.
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala are the major oil palm growing states, which accounts for 98% of the total production.
Currently, India produces about 44% of its domestic edible oil consumption requirement. Mustard (40%), soybean (24%) and groundnut (7%) are other oils who have a share in domestic production.
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