The government today said in the Lok Sabha that there was no option but to import edible oil to meet the demand-supply gap in the domestic market.
"It is not that we are very happy to import these items. But the fact is that eating habits are changing leading to increase in demand. Production is also going up but still there is gap and to meet that we have to import," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said during the Question Hour.
Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) questioned government's policy and asked what steps have been taken so far to increase production to reduce dependence on imports.
To this Pawar said, "The government is not a silent spectator. We have taken various steps including financial assistance to states for purchasing seeds and providing subsidy to farmers to increase the production."
"...Production is increasing but simultaneously consumption is also going up and to meet the gap we have to import. For the time being to protect interests of consumers the government has waived the import duty to keep the prices under check," he added.
Oil seeds production has gone up from 243 lakh tonnes in 2004-05 to 297 lakh tonnes last year, Pawar said.