India Oil Production: India will be ‘self-sufficient’ in edible oils! 10,103 crore Mega ‘Mission’ of Govt for the next 7 years

• Government’s Ambitious Leap in Oilseed Production
• A target of 2.8 million tonnes of CPO by 2029
• ‘National Edible Oil Campaign’ will change India’s agricultural economy

India Oil Production: The Government of India has set a target of increasing domestic oilseed production to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31 to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oil production. According to the August 2024 NITI Aayog report, India is the world’s top producer of oilseeds such as rice bean oil, mustard, castor oil, safflower oil, sesame oil and niger oil. Despite this, the country can meet only 44% of its total consumption through domestic production and the rest of the demand has to be met through imports.

Import dependence on edible oils has declined from 63.20% in 2015-16 to 56.25% in 2023-24, but rapid growth in consumption is limiting this progress. To address this challenge, the government launched the National Edible Oil Campaign in 2021. The target is to increase oil palm cultivation to 6.5 lakh hectares by 2025-26 and produce 2.8 million tonnes of crude palm oil by 2029-30. By November 2025, 2.50 lakh hectares were covered under NMEO-OP, bringing the total oil palm area in the country to 6.20 lakh hectares.

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CPO production is expected to increase from 1.91 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 to 3.80 lakh tonnes in 2024-25. Oilseeds production is targeted to increase from 39 million tonnes to 69.7 million tonnes. Focus is on cluster-based agriculture, improved seeds, processing and market linkages. The government says these efforts will shift the country’s edible oil supply chain from import dependence to self-sufficiency. Under this campaign, special emphasis is being laid on providing farmers with improved income, quality seeds, technology and market linkages.

According to a government statement, NEMO is the cornerstone of India’s agricultural transformation to enhance productivity, promote innovation and move the country towards true self-sufficiency in edible oils. Start of oilseed production in India India contributes approximately 5-6% to global oilseed production. During the financial year 2023-24, the export of oilseeds, oilseeds and by-products was approximately 5.44 million tonnes, valued at 29,587 crores.

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By May 2025, India’s oilseed production reached a new high of 42.609 million tonnes (MT). India’s nine major oilseed crops contribute 14.3% of the annual total cropped area, 12-13% of dietary energy and approximately 8% of agricultural exports. India ranks first in production of castor, safflower, sesame and niger, second in groundnut, third in mustard, fourth in linseed and fifth in soybean.

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra are the major oilseed producing states, contributing more than 779% to the country’s total oilseed production. To achieve self-sufficiency in edible oil production, the National Edible Oil Mission Oilseeds (NMEO-OS) was sanctioned in 2024 for a seven-year period from 2024-25 to 2030-31, with a capital outlay of Rs 10,103 crore. NMEO-Oilseeds focuses on increasing production of major primary oilseed crops such as rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower, niger, linseed and castor as well as increasing collection and extraction efficiency from secondary sources such as cotton, coconut, rice bran as well as tree-derived oilseeds.