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After the Centre’s move to impose quantitative restrictions on import of pulses, oil processors and crushers have raised demand for a similar measure to contain the import of edible oils and protect the interests of crushers and farmers.
In a letter written to the Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, the Saurashtra Oil Mills Association (SOMA) demanded quantitative restrictions on edible oils imports.
“Due to no restrictions on imports of edible oils, huge additional volume is being imported in the country, which is hampering the domestic oil consumption. This situation creates a huge disparity in the market and farmers and the industry are suffering,” Sameer Shah, President, SOMA, said in the letter
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According to SOMA, the annual consumption of edible oil in the country is estimated at around 230 lakh tonnes, against a domestic production of around 100-110 lakh tonnes. “But as per reports, the actual import of edible oils is 165 lakh tonnes. This is a huge overlapping import,”Shah stated in the letter.
Earlier, the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had imposed a quantitative cap on import of some pulses in 2017 and 2018 “to protect domestic farmers from impact of cheap imports.”
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