To ensure real-time assessment of availability, production and imports of edible oils, the food ministry is planning to amend the relevant order issued in 2011. The move will ensure registration of edible oil units, and declaration of their stock on a monthly basis.
Sources told FE that a draft of the proposed rules – Vegetable oil products production and availability – regulation – (VOPPA) Order, 2025 – currently being circulated amongst the edible oil processors, aimed at making available real-time data on supplies and availability of cooking oils with millers, refiners and solvent extractors.
With the requirement of online submission of stocks as well as raw materials, the food ministry aims to keep track of supply situations which would ensure faster policy intervention in case of spike in prices.
Officials said this ensures that the government has a robust understanding of the cooking oil supply situation, especially when Indian imports over 57% of its annual edible oil consumption.
The country imported 15.96 million tonne (MT) of crude and refined oils – palm, soybean and sunflower – during 2023-24 oil year (November-October) valued at Rs 1.32 lakh crore.
To ensure domestic supplies and keep prices under check, the government has been tweaking import duties on the edible oils.
On May 30, India reduced the effective import duty including basic custom duty and cess on these three oils to 16.5% from 27.5% imposed in September last year to curb spike in prices.
The country imports oils from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Ukraine, Russia and Argentina.
India produces oils such as mustard, soybean and groundnut.
Under the proposed new regulation, any entity would intend to stock for sale, process vegetable oil, oil products sale and solvent extracted oils need to register with the director, directorate of sugar and vegetable oils (DSVO).
Every unit will have to declare stock of cooking oils to DSVO by the fifteenth day of the succeeding month.
The monthly declaration would include volume of vegetable oil received and used by the processing unit as raw material and volume of oils manufactured, sold or imported or exported during the last one month.
The declaration to authority would include the stocks held, and the quantities and varieties of solvent —extracted oil, produced and dispatched during last month. The processors also have to declare quantities and varieties of oil-bearing raw materials during the preceding one month.
“We are examining a draft regulation order and will provide inputs to the ministry,” BV Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extraction Association of India, said.
The proposed new regulation would also include every sale or movement of stocks of solvent-extracted oil, crude oil, refined oil and blended oil by the producers.
Sources said the reduction in duty announced in May was because of a sharp rise in prices of edible oils in the recent months, while retail inflation in ‘oils and fats’ category was highest in the food basket at 17.42% in May on year.