- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (9) unveiled a National Mission for Edible Oil – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) to make the country self-sufficient in cooking oils, including palm oil, while stressing on reducing dependence on imports.
Addressing a virtual event on the PM-Kisan scheme, Modi said an investment worth over Rs 11,000 crore ($1.4 billion) will be made in the edible oil ecosystem. Also on the occasion, he transferred over Rs 19,500 crore to more than 9.75 crore farmers under the government’s flagship PM-Kisan scheme.
He said while India has become ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-sufficient) in production of rice, wheat and sugar, it is still not enough since the country is dependent on huge imports of edible oil. He said India must also become self-reliant in edible oil as he announced NMEO-OP.
He said the government will ensure that the farmers get all facilities, from quality seeds to technology to promote farming to produce palm oil and other oil seeds.
India is dependent on edible oil to meet its domestic demand. Of the total import, palm oil constitutes about 55 per cent.
Modi said the country spent thousands of crores of rupees on edible oil imports and added that this should rather go to farmers. He also said states in north-east India and Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be promoted for palm-farming.
