India must continue importing palm oil to satisfy domestic demand despite recent fluctuations in shipment volumes, Sandeep Bajoria said.
This dependency creates a vulnerability in India's food security and inflation control. Because palm oil is a primary cooking medium, any disruption in the supply chain can lead to rapid price increases for consumers across the country.
Bajoria, the CEO of Sunvin Group, said that Indonesia is tightening its natural-resource export controls. He also said an expected lower Kharif production could further constrain the domestic supply and necessitate ongoing imports [1].
Recent data shows a complex trend in India's vegetable oil market. In April, palm oil imports fell 27% to a one-year low, a decline attributed to weak demand [2]. However, the broader vegetable-oil market has shown growth. Imports of vegetable oils climbed 13% during the first six months of the 2025-26 oil year [3].
The financial scale of these imports is significant. India's vegetable-oil import bill reached Rs 87,000 crore in the first half of the 2025-26 oil year [3]. This spending highlights the scale of the country's reliance on external markets to fill the gap between local production and consumption.
Industry leaders are monitoring how the intersection of Indonesian policy and Indian crop yields will affect pricing. While the April dip suggests a temporary cooling in demand, the long-term trend for the 2025-26 period indicates an accelerating need for these oils [3].
“India must continue importing palm oil to satisfy domestic demand”
The contradiction between April's import drop and the overall 13% increase in vegetable oil imports suggests a volatile market. India's reliance on Indonesia makes it susceptible to geopolitical shifts and export quotas, meaning domestic price stability remains tied to foreign policy and international harvest yields.
