Good news on edible oil prices! Modi govt takes big decision to reduce heavy dependence on imports for edible oils, approves Rs 11,040 crore scheme

Under National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm scheme, it is proposed to cover an additional area  of 6.5 lakh hectare (ha.) for oil palm till the year 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares ultimately. 

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to launch a new Mission on Oil palm to be known as the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a special focus on the North east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.  A financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore has been made for the scheme, out of which Rs.8,844 crore is the Government of India share and Rs 2,196 crore is State share and this includes the viability gap funding also. "Due to the heavy dependence on imports for edible oils, it is important to make efforts for increasing the domestic production of edible oils in which increasing area and productivity of oil palm plays an important part," said an official release. Under this scheme, it is proposed to cover an additional area  of 6.5 lakh hectare (ha.) for oil palm till the year 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares ultimately.  The production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is expected to go upto 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and upto 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30.