'Veg oil imports up 25% in Oct'

India's imports of vegetable oil jumped by nearly 25 per cent in October this year to 8.32 lakh tonnes due to a rise in demand, the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) said today.  

"Increase in per capita consumption of edible oils with rise in income and notable increase in institutional consumption has pushed the demand for vegetable oil in the country," SEA said in a statement.

The association said government initiatives such as the mid-day meal scheme, subsidies on oil and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act have also boosted demand for edible oil.

Out of the total vegetable oil imports during October, edible oils accounted for 7.80 lakh tonnes and the remaining 52,158 tonnes were non-edible oils. 

India imported 6.67 lakh tonnes of vegetable oil in October last year, SEA said.

Imports of vegetable oil during Oil Year 2009-10 (November, 2009, to October, 2010) increased by 6.6 per cent to 92.4 lakh tonnes from 86.6 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous oil year.

Imports of vegetable oil -- including edible oil, non-edible oil and vanaspati -- in the oil year ended October, 2010, amounted to 92.4 lakh tonnes and were valued at Rs 38,000 crore.

This was the highest volume of edible oil imported by the country in a single oil year since 1994, when import restrictions on edible oil were first lifted.