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- 30th Dec, 2020
To make India ‘Atmanirbhar’ on palm oil, Modi govt approves
The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved a scheme, largely sponsored by the central government, to boost palm oil production in India and reduce its dependence on expensive imports to meet national demand.
The National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme, which has a special focus on the Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, will offer cultivators a fixed price on the lines of the minimum support price (MSP). In case of market volatility, farmers will be paid the price difference for their produce via direct benefit transfer (DBT).
The scheme proposes to cover an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectares (lha) under oil palm cultivation by 2025-26, and another 6.7 lha by 2029-30.
It will have a financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore, with the central government’s allocation at Rs 8,844 crore and the states/UT’s at Rs 2,196 crore.
Addressing the media, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said “56 per cent of total edible oil imports come from palm”.
“We have to increase domestic production to reduce both import dependency as well as prices. As of now, palm can be cultivated on 28 lha in the country, out of which 9 lha is in the northeast.”
