India’s edible oil trade runs mostly on imports. From November 2025 to September 2026, the first 11 months of the 2025-26 oil year, India imported 151.64 lakh tonnes of edible oils, 3% more than a year earlier, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) circular of 15 October 2026.
This explainer sets out the latest numbers, the oils and the countries that supply them, the customs duty changes since September 2024, the National Mission on Edible Oils, the new reporting rules for processors, and what each means for refiners, importers, packers and oilseed crushers. Every changing figure carries its date.
India’s edible oil imports: the latest official numbers
The SEA publishes import figures in monthly circulars to its members. Circular EC 162/2026-27, signed by executive director B.V. Mehta, gives these totals for November 2025 to September 2026:
- Edible oil imports: 15,164,380 tonnes (151.64 lakh tonnes), against 14,683,200 tonnes a year earlier, up 3%.
- Non-edible oil imports: 299,432 tonnes, down 14%.
- Total vegetable oil imports: 15,463,812 tonnes (154.64 lakh tonnes), against 150.31 lakh tonnes, up 3%.
- September 2026 alone: 15.44 lakh tonnes of edible oils, down from 15.72 lakh tonnes in August.
For complete oil years, which run from November to October, the same circular gives edible oil imports of 16,010,748 tonnes in 2024-25, 15,962,571 tonnes in 2023-24 and 16,466,093 tonnes in 2022-23. The 2025-26 total will follow once the SEA publishes its October figures. TAD’s report on the September 2026 SEA data covers the monthly detail.
The government measures dependence against demand. A PIB backgrounder on the National Mission on Edible Oils of 8 December 2025 put domestic edible oil production at 12.18 million tonnes in 2023-24, enough for 44% of demand. Import dependence fell from 63.2% in 2015-16 to 56.25% in 2023-24, it said, while per capita consumption rose from 5.76 kg a year in rural areas and 7.92 kg in urban areas in 2004-05 to 10.58 kg and 11.78 kg in 2022-23.
Which oils India imports, and from where
Palm oil and the soft oils (soybean, sunflower and rapeseed) split the market. In the 11 months to September 2026, palm oil imports were 7,352,023 tonnes, 48% of edible oil imports, and soft oils 7,812,357 tonnes, 52%, the SEA says. Soybean oil made up 5,176,085 tonnes and sunflower oil 2,624,083 tonnes. Palm oil’s share was higher in earlier years: 59% in 2022-23 and 56% in 2023-24, before falling to 47% in 2024-25.
By product, crude palm oil was the largest category at 72.32 lakh tonnes. The SEA’s country table for the 11 months shows where the edible oil came from:
- Argentina: 34.43 lakh tonnes, mainly crude soybean oil (27.14 lakh tonnes) and crude sunflower oil (7.29 lakh tonnes).
- Malaysia: 29.76 lakh tonnes, almost all crude palm oil.
- Indonesia: 29.05 lakh tonnes, mainly crude palm oil.
- Russia: 12.89 lakh tonnes, mainly crude sunflower oil.
- Brazil: 1,258,906 tonnes, mainly crude soybean oil.
- Thailand: 773,975 tonnes, mainly crude palm oil.
- Nepal: 682,452 tonnes, mainly refined soybean oil (605,896 tonnes).
- Ukraine: 360,291 tonnes of crude sunflower oil.
Landed costs rose over the period. The SEA’s average CIF price for crude palm oil at Indian ports was US$1,285 a tonne in September 2026, against US$1,164 in September 2025, and crude soybean oil averaged US$1,314 against US$1,182. The rupee averaged 95.51 to the dollar in September 2026, against 88.32 a year earlier, which the SEA calls a depreciation of about 8.1%.
Edible oil import duty: what changed from 2024 to 2026
India taxes edible oil imports mainly through basic customs duty, charged at a lower rate on crude oils than on refined oils so that refining stays in India. The rates have moved three times since September 2024.
September 2024: duties raised
From 14 September 2024, basic customs duty on crude soybean, palm and sunflower oils rose from nil to 20%, an effective duty of 27.5%, and duty on the refined oils rose from 12.5% to 32.5%, an effective 35.75%, All India Radio reported on 18 September 2024. The stated aim was to support domestic oilseed prices ahead of the new soybean and groundnut crops.
At a meeting chaired by Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, the Centre asked edible oil associations not to raise retail prices while about 30 lakh tonnes imported at nil and 12.5% duty, enough for 45 to 50 days, remained in stock.
May 2025: crude oil duty halved
From 31 May 2025, basic customs duty on crude sunflower, soybean and palm oils fell from 20% to 10%, while refined oils stayed at 32.5%, according to the SEA’s edible oil duty table. A PIB release of 11 June 2025 said this widened the duty differential between crude and refined oils from 8.75% to 19.25%, and linked the cut to prices that rose after the September 2024 increase. After this change the effective duty was 16.5% on crude oils and 35.75% on refined oils, according to the December 2025 PIB backgrounder.
September 2026: cut again, gap kept
The latest change came in Notification No. 31/2026-Customs of 23 September 2026, as reproduced by TaxGuru, effective 24 September. It amends Notification No. 45/2025-Customs of 24 October 2025. According to a PIB release of 24 September 2026, duty on crude sunflower oil fell from 10% to nil and on crude soybean and palm oils from 10% to 5%, while the 19.25% differential with refined oils was kept. Refined palm and soybean oils fell from 32.5% to 27.5% and refined sunflower oil to 22.5%, the SEA’s duty table shows.
Including the agriculture cess and social welfare cess, the SEA puts the effective duty from 24 September 2026 at 11% on crude palm and soybean oil, 5.5% on crude sunflower oil, 30.25% on refined palm and soybean oil and 24.75% on refined sunflower oil. Before the cut it was 16.5% on crude oils and 35.75% on refined oils.
Why the duty keeps moving: prices, farmers and refiners
The stated reasons have swung with the market. The 2024 increase was presented as support for oilseed growers. The 2025 and 2026 cuts were presented as relief for consumers: the September 2026 release cited the sharp increase in international edible oil prices and higher landed costs, and both releases came with an advisory asking industry to cut its price to distributors and maximum retail prices.
Industry leaders described the 2026 cut in different terms, Informist Media reported on 25 September 2026. Sanjeev Asthana, chief executive of Patanjali Foods and president of the SEA, set it against a rise of about 25% in international prices and 12% to 15% in domestic prices over the year. Sudhakar Desai, president of the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association (IVPA), said greater flexibility to import sunflower and soybean oil would shift demand away from palm oil. B.V. Mehta of the SEA said supply was comfortable and forecast full-year imports of 16.5 million tonnes.
Oilseed processors have argued the other way. In September 2025, Davish Jain, chairman of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), asked Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to raise edible oil import duty by at least 10%, saying cheap imports and weak prices had led farmers to cut oilseed planting, PTI reported via Outlook Business. In September 2026, many soybean markets were trading below the minimum support price, according to Informist; TAD’s support price board lists the current MSPs.
TAD’s reading: the duty rises when farm prices sag and falls when retail prices climb, but the 19.25% gap between crude and refined oil has stayed fixed since mid-2025. That gap, rather than the headline rate, is what shapes the refining business.
Crude versus refined: what the duty gap does
The wider gap has changed what India buys. Refined oil imports fell to 740,441 tonnes in the 11 months to September 2026, from 1,689,228 tonnes a year earlier, and their share of edible oil imports fell to 5% from 12%, the SEA says. Crude oils rose to 14,423,939 tonnes, a 95% share. The SEA puts this down mainly to negligible imports of refined palmolein from Indonesia and Malaysia, replaced by crude palm oil, which is what the June 2025 release said the government wanted.
Nepal is the exception. It exported 682,452 tonnes of refined oils to India in the 11 months, including 605,896 tonnes of refined soybean oil. The SEA notes that Nepal imports mainly crude soybean oil, refines it and sends it to India at nil duty under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.
The IVPA has asked for a review. In a statement reported by PTI on 20 July 2026, the association said such imports rose from 47,295 tonnes in 2023 to more than 804,000 tonnes in 2025, and estimated that the shift could cost INR 2,000 crore to INR 2,500 crore a year in customs revenue. It asked the government to check compliance with SAFTA rules of origin under the CAROTAR framework. The reports TAD reviewed do not record a government decision.
Domestic oilseeds and the National Mission on Edible Oils
India’s own oilseed crop is large but not large enough. The Third Advance Estimates for 2025-26, released on 27 May 2026, put total oilseed production at 43.059 million tonnes, with groundnut at a record 13.074 million tonnes, rapeseed and mustard at a record 13.768 million tonnes and soybean at 12.596 million tonnes. Mr Mehta told Informist that the actual soybean crop was not more than 10 million tonnes. The government’s answer to the gap is the National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO), in two parts; the details below are from the December 2025 PIB backgrounder.
NMEO-Oil Palm
Approved in 2021 as a centrally sponsored scheme, NMEO-Oil Palm has an outlay of INR 11,040 crore, of which INR 8,844 crore is the central share. It aims to bring 6.5 lakh hectares under oil palm by 2025-26 and to raise crude palm oil output to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30. By November 2025 it had covered 2.50 lakh hectares, taking the national area to 6.20 lakh hectares, and crude palm oil output was 3.80 lakh tonnes in 2024-25.
The mission gives growers a viability price for fresh fruit bunches, whose market price is linked to international crude palm oil prices. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana account for 98% of production. Costs are shared 60:40 between the Centre and general states and 90:10 in the north-eastern states.
NMEO-Oilseeds
Approved in 2024 for 2024-25 to 2030-31 with an outlay of INR 10,103 crore, NMEO-Oilseeds targets primary oilseed production of 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31, up from 39 million tonnes in 2022-23, with yields rising from 1,353 kg to 2,112 kg a hectare. Together with the oil palm mission, it aims for domestic edible oil output of 25.45 million tonnes by 2030-31, about 72% of projected requirement.
Delivery runs through more than 600 value chain clusters covering over 10 lakh hectares a year, managed by value chain partners including farmer producer organisations and cooperatives. Farmers in the clusters receive free seed. The mission plans 65 seed hubs and 50 seed storage units in the public sector, runs a five-year rolling seed plan on the SATHI portal, and supports post-harvest units for oilseed collection and oil extraction, including from cottonseed, rice bran and tree-borne oilseeds.
New rules for edible oil processors: the VOPPA order
Alongside duties, the government is collecting more data. The Department of Food and Public Distribution has notified the amended Vegetable Oil Products Production and Availability (Regulation) Order, 2025, known as VOPPA. Under it, producers of crude and refined vegetable oils, solvent-extracted oils, blended oils, vanaspati, margarine and other specified products must register on the VOPPA portal, a PIB release of 12 November 2025 said.
Registered units must file monthly returns by the 15th of each month covering production, imports, opening and closing stocks, dispatches, sales and consumption. The department said units that fail to register or file face fines and other action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008. It scheduled the first of a series of industry workshops for 15 November 2025 in Indore.
What the edible oil trade means for refiners, importers, packers and crushers
This section is TAD’s analysis of the official figures above, for general information.
- Port refiners: With crude oils at 95% of edible oil imports in the 11 months to September 2026, refining volume is staying in India. The main competitive pressure on refined product comes from duty-free Nepalese oil rather than from Indonesia and Malaysia.
- Importers and traders: Duty notifications can take effect the day after they are signed, as in September 2026. Stocks matter: the SEA put edible oil stocks at ports and in the pipeline at 2,072,000 tonnes on 1 October 2026, up 29,000 tonnes on the month.
- Packers and brands: Each cut since 2025 has come with a government request to lower price to distributors and maximum retail prices. In June 2025 associations were also asked to share brand-wise MRP sheets with the department every week.
- Oilseed crushers and solvent extractors: Lower import duty makes domestic oil and meal margins harder to defend when local seed prices sit near the MSP. Government buying under the Price Support Scheme, such as the soybean and sunflower procurement approved in September 2026, also affects seed availability.
- Lenders and input suppliers: NMEO clusters, seed hubs and oil palm planting create demand for seed, irrigation and extraction equipment, but the mission’s payments run through state budgets as well as the Centre’s.
The common thread, in TAD’s view, is that duty changes move faster than domestic supply can. Businesses that planned around a single edible oil duty rate have had to replan three times since September 2024.
What is still unsettled
Several questions remain open as of 31 October 2026. The full 2025-26 edible oil import total will only be known once the SEA reports October arrivals. The government has not, in the sources TAD reviewed, announced a decision on IVPA’s call to review duty-free imports from Nepal.
Prices depend on palm oil supply in Indonesia and Malaysia and on their biodiesel mandates, which Mr Desai expects to keep palm oil expensive. TAD’s report on USDA’s October WASDE and its report on the FAO food price index for September 2026 follow the world vegetable oil market. TAD has not found an official oil palm area count after the 6.20 lakh hectares reported for November 2025, so whether NMEO-Oil Palm met its 6.5 lakh hectare target for 2025-26 is unconfirmed. The Markets desk follows the SEA’s monthly circulars.
Edible oil: frequently asked questions
How much edible oil does India import?
India imported 151.64 lakh tonnes of edible oils from November 2025 to September 2026, up 3% on a year earlier, according to the SEA’s circular of 15 October 2026. Total vegetable oil imports, including non-edible oils, were 154.64 lakh tonnes. In the full 2024-25 oil year, edible oil imports were 16,010,748 tonnes. A PIB backgrounder put import dependence at 56.25% of demand in 2023-24.
Which countries supply India’s edible oil?
In the 11 months to September 2026, Argentina was the largest supplier with 34.43 lakh tonnes, mainly crude soybean oil, followed by Malaysia with 29.76 lakh tonnes and Indonesia with 29.05 lakh tonnes, both mainly crude palm oil. Russia supplied 12.89 lakh tonnes, mainly crude sunflower oil, and Nepal 682,452 tonnes of refined oils, SEA data show.
What is the import duty on edible oil in India after September 2026?
From 24 September 2026, basic customs duty is 5% on crude palm and crude soybean oil and nil on crude sunflower oil, according to a PIB release. Refined palm and soybean oils fell to 27.5% and refined sunflower oil to 22.5%, the SEA’s duty table shows. The government kept a 19.25% duty differential between crude and refined edible oils to support domestic refining.
Why does India import more crude than refined edible oil?
Since May 2025 the duty gap between crude and refined oils has been 19.25%, which makes refining in India cheaper than importing refined oil. Refined oils fell to 5% of edible oil imports in the 11 months to September 2026, from 12% a year earlier, the SEA says, mainly because refined palmolein imports from Indonesia and Malaysia became negligible.
What is the National Mission on Edible Oils?
It is the government’s programme to raise domestic supply, in two parts. NMEO-Oil Palm, approved in 2021 with an outlay of INR 11,040 crore, expands oil palm planting. NMEO-Oilseeds, approved in 2024 with INR 10,103 crore for 2024-25 to 2030-31, targets 69.7 million tonnes of primary oilseeds by 2030-31 through clusters, seed hubs and processing support.
What is the VOPPA order for edible oil companies?
The amended Vegetable Oil Products Production and Availability (Regulation) Order, 2025 requires producers of vegetable oils, vanaspati and related products to register on the VOPPA portal and file monthly returns by the 15th covering production, imports, stocks, dispatches and sales. Units that do not comply face fines under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.
