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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | How India Was Stripped of Its Atmanirbharta in the Edible Oil Industry -BM Vyas and Manu Kaushik

How India Was Stripped of Its Atmanirbharta in the Edible Oil Industry -BM Vyas and Manu Kaushik

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published Published on Nov 5, 2020   modified Modified on Nov 5, 2020

-TheWire.in

The rise and fall of the biggest importers of edible oil in the world.

‘Freedom is the greatest fruit of self-sufficiency’

– Epicurus

The COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental for globalisation and has led to a clamour for protectionism.

India’s national strategy is also in line with this trend with calls for ‘Atmanirbharta’ and ‘vocal for local’ increasing.

Traditionally, India was an exporter of edible oil before Independence, became self-sufficient post-Independence (till the early 1970s), floundered in 1970s and 80s and regained self-sufficiency in the early 90s (1991-94). We are currently the biggest importers in the world!

India imports around US $ 10 billion of edible oil (15 MT) annually which constitutes nearly 70% of our annual edible oil requirement of 23 million tonnes. Thus, whether you eat a roadside samosa, matthi, dosa or chola bhatura, branded biscuit or namkeen, or even aloo puri or sabzi at home, there is almost a 70% chance that it is made using oil which is not from India.

Furthermore, imported palm oil or its derivatives are used as ingredients in soaps, shampoos, shaving creams and other cosmetics too. This is not an industry that comes across as a shining example for ‘atmanirbhar’ India. An analysis of the last five decades will help us understand how we reached here.

From Independence until the mid-1970s, we averaged 95% self-sufficiency in edible oil, except for the war years and its aftermath when self-sufficiency fell down to early 90s in percentage. The cuisine, cropping patterns and climatic conditions had led to the preference of mustard oil in north and east India, coconut oil in south India, groundnut or cottonseed oil in west India, and sesame oil in Rajasthan.

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TheWire.in, 4 November, 2020, https://thewire.in/political-economy/india-edible-oil-self-sufficiency


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