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Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Edible oils oversight: Govt to issue new vegetable oil regulation order next week, aims to enhance transparency and tracking
The Centre will issue a new regulation next week to improve oversight and transparency in India's vegetable oil sector, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said on Thursday. The new framework, titled the 2025 Vegetable Oil Products, Production and Availability (VOPPA) Regulation Order, will replace the existing 2011 order, PTI reported. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It introduces mandatory digital reporting of edible oil production, sales, pricing and stock data, enabling real-time market monitoring and improved regulatory compliance. 'The associations have been consulted. It's in the final stages now, probably by next week it will be notified,' Chopra told reporters on the sidelines of the IVPA Global Roundtable, organised by the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers' Association. Chopra said the order will allow the ministry to better track production and pricing. 'Right now we are groping in the dark because we are dependent on the association for the data,' he said. He added that the VOPPA framework will help 'track production, pricing and availability in real-time, providing critical data to industry stakeholders while improving compliance, market monitoring, and product integrity'. Duty cuts and pricing pressure On questions about customs duty cuts, the secretary said the government had taken calibrated steps to reduce import duties on crude edible oils, aimed at easing consumer prices and absorbing global shocks. The Centre is conducting inspections and working with industry associations to ensure that duty cuts are passed on to consumers. 'We are monitoring market dynamics... to ensure affordability,' he said. Despite a broader easing in food inflation, edible oils remain an outlier. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'Edible oil has seen 20-30 per cent annual inflation except groundnut oil, which remains a concern for the government,' Chopra noted. He said mustard oil prices remain firm but the government has buffer stocks of 7 lakh tonnes of mustard seed, held by Nafed, which could be released to manage prices. Domestic production challenges On India's self-sufficiency goals in oilseeds, Chopra admitted that raising domestic output remains a major challenge. He said the average yield of soybean, sunflower and mustard crops in India remains significantly below global averages, and achieving better output would require 'substantial investment in research and development, infrastructure development and adoption of modern agricultural practices.' However, he added that India's newly developed oilseed varieties have global genetic potential and the focus now must be on scaling production through seed replacement and wider access. The government is pushing this agenda through schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana and the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds. Industry view Speaking at the event, US Soybean Export Council Regional Director Kevin Roepke said no country can be self-sufficient in every commodity. He suggested that the US could increase soybean oil exports to India, given the opportunity. IVPA President Sudhakar Desai said that India's edible oil imports have dropped 8% over the last six months, but are now rebounding due to softer global prices. He noted that mustard markets remain firm amid lower crop speculation. 'There may be a need for a calibrated release of government stocks to moderate this trend,' he added. Desai said that 'the global vegetable oil sector continues to be shaped by evolving supply-demand dynamics, price volatility, and shifting geopolitical tensions,' making data-driven dialogue critical. The roundtable was also attended by Godrej Industries Chairman and MD Nadir B Godrej and ITC Agri-Business Head S Sivakumar.
The Hindu
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
TDP will seek discussion on ‘A.P. liquor scam' in Parliament, says MP Sri Krishna Devarayalu
TDP Parliamentary Party Chairman Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said on Sunday that the Andhra Pradesh liquor scam, in which YSRCP's Rajampet MP P.V. Midhun Reddy was arrested and sent to judicial remand, should be discussed during the 21-day monsoon session of the Parliament commencing on July 21, in view of its magnitude and the impact on the public exchequer. Addressing the media after participating in the all-party meeting held in New Delhi, Mr. Krishna Devarayalu said the Parliament had come to a standstill following an intense debate on the fodder scam, which ran into about ₹100 crore, and obviously the liquor scam in Andhra Pradesh, which was far bigger in scale involving more than ₹3,000 crore, warranted a serious discussion. Moreover, large-scale money laundering allegedly took place in the conduct of the liquor business during the YSRCP rule, he said. As regards the all-party meeting, he said that he suggested that the Parliament should have deliberations on the Pradhan Mantri Dhan - Dhaanya Krishi Yojana. The scheme would help in mitigating the crisis faced by the mango and tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh by supplementing the market intervention measures taken by the State government. It provided scope for the State to mobilise Central financial support, he observed. JJM funds Mr. Krishna Devarayalu said the TDP MPs would raise the issue of allocation of funds to Andhra Pradesh under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), under which about ₹24,000 crore were given to the State in 2019-24, but to no avail as only an expenditure of ₹2,000 crore was accounted for. Also, he emphasised the need for a discussion on the inter-linking of rivers, like the proposed linking of the Godavari, the Krishna and the Penna, insisting that they would provide irrigation facilities to huge tracts of agricultural lands and solve the drinking water problem. Further, Mr. Krishna Devarayalu said the TDP MPs would seek extension of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to more sectors in order to spur economic growth by generating employment. It was a successful scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a key component of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, he said.
