India increases vegetable oil imports as duty-free supplies from Nepal surge

Vegetable oil imports into India rose by 3% in the 2025/26 marketing year, reaching 16.65 million tonnes. The main driver behind the increase was a sharp rise in duty-free shipments from Nepal, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA). In the previous year, India imported 16.18 million tonnes of vegetable oils.

Nepal, which enjoys tariff-free access to the Indian market under the SAFTA agreement, more than doubled its edible oil exports to India over the year — from 345,000 tonnes to 736,000 tonnes. Refined soybean oil accounted for the largest share of shipments, alongside sunflower, palm, and rapeseed oils. The industry association stressed that this surge in duty-free imports significantly contributed to the overall growth in India’s edible oil purchases.

Despite rising domestic demand, India remains heavily dependent on imported vegetable oils. Domestic production covers only around 40% of the country’s total consumption needs. Analysts attribute the gap to low oilseed yields, limited irrigation, fragmented farmland, and long-standing agricultural policies focused mainly on wheat and rice cultivation.

Additional pressure on the market came from elevated global vegetable oil prices and the weakening of the Indian rupee against the U.S. dollar, which increased import costs. SEA noted that without supplies from Nepal, India’s total imports could have fallen below last year’s level despite stronger domestic consumption.

The industry body urged the Indian government to strengthen support for oilseed production and expand domestic processing capacity in order to reduce long-term reliance on imports. SEA also backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent appeal for consumers to moderate edible oil consumption, saying the move could help lower import spending and ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Tags: edible oils, Nepal, sunflower oil, soybean oil, India, palm oil, imports