India's import of vegetable oil is expected to drop this year due to increase in domestic production of the oilseeds, an industry body said. The country requires to import 8.5- 8.6 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the current oil year to meet its domestic demands, Solvent Extractors Association said.
It had imported 9.2 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the 2009-10 oil year (November-October). “The total import in the current year will be lower compared to the previous year by about 6-7 lakh tonnes. We would be importing about 8.5-8.6 million tonnes of vegetable oils this time,” the SEA Executive Director, Mr B V Mehta, told PTI. India imported 4.2 million tonnes of vegetable oil in the first seven months of 2010-11 oil year compared to 4.8 million tonnes in the year-ago period.