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“Edible lipid imports roseate 3% to 166.51 lakh tonnes successful the 2025-26 fiscal year, driven mostly by a crisp leap successful duty-free imports from Nepal,” manufacture assemblage Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said connected Tuesday (May 19, 2026). Imports had stood astatine 161.82 lakh tonnes successful the anterior fiscal year.
Nepal, which enjoys zero-duty entree to Indian markets nether the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement, exported 7.36 lakh tonnes of edible oils to India during the twelvemonth 2026, much than treble the 3.45 lakh tonnes shipped successful the erstwhile fiscal, a emergence of 113%.
Refined soybean lipid made up the bulk of Nepal's exports to India, with smaller volumes of sunflower oil, RBD Palmolein and rapeseed lipid besides traded.
"The surge successful duty-free imports of refined oils from Nepal substantially contributed to the summation successful India's full edible lipid imports during the year," SEA said successful a statement.
The relation said that without the SAFTA arrangement, wide imports would apt person fallen abbreviated of the erstwhile year's level contempt rising home demand, adjacent arsenic higher planetary prices and a weaker rupee against the dollar accrued import costs.
India remains heavy babelike connected overseas supplies, with home accumulation gathering lone astir 40% of full edible lipid requirements.
“Low oilseed yields, fragmented landholdings, constricted irrigation and a argumentation tilt toward wheat and atom cultivation person constrained home output growth,” SEA said.
The relation called for steps to boost oilseed productivity and promote home worth summation to trim semipermanent import reliance.
It besides flagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's caller entreaty for consumers to moderate edible lipid consumption, saying that curbing excess usage alongside raising home output would assistance little import dependence and easiness unit connected overseas speech reserves.
