By G Nagaraj, T Damodaram India is in a paradoxical situation with respect to edible and vegetable oils. It is one of the largest producers and also the largest importer. Naturally, it has also become the major consumer of edible oils in the world. Despite vast sources available, India has been importing a sizeable quantity […]
By G Nagaraj, T Damodaram
India is in a paradoxical situation with respect to edible and vegetable oils. It is one of the largest producers and also the largest importer. Naturally, it has also become the major consumer of edible oils in the world. Despite vast sources available, India has been importing a sizeable quantity of edible oil to cap the gap between demand and supply.
India attained self-sufficiency in edible oils for a short period in the 1990s after the establishment of a technology mission on oilseeds. The country produces around 110 lakh tonnes of edible oil. Around 130 lakh tonnes is being met through import of mainly palm oil (63%) and a smaller component of sunflower and soya oils from other countries. Nutritionists recommend a normal healthy adult should consume around 30g per day or approximately 1kg of oil per month only. Thus, for a population of 130 crore, India needs only 150-160 lakh tonnes of edible oil. Even if some industrial needs are taken into account, the total requirement should not go beyond 200 lakh tonnes. Does India need to import such large quantities every year at a cost of Rs 1.2 lakh crore per annum?
Tapping Potential
We find a ray of hope to reduce our imports of edible oils. The dairy industry has a vast potential to supply the best possible fat, namely, clarified butter or butter oil/ghee. It is gaining popularity in Australia, Arabian countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, New Zealand, the Netherlands and many African and Asian countries. The production of ghee in India has risen from around 5.5 lakh tonnes in 1977 to around 46 lakh tonnes in 2019 (FAO).
Thanks to the White revolution by Dr Verghese Kurien and subsequent support, milk production in India has increased from 30 million tonnes in 1979-80 to 210 million tonnes in 2020-21. This helped the development of value-added dairy products both in organised and unorganised sectors.
India tops in butter and ghee production followed by Pakistan. Exports of ghee from India have been increasing since 2014-15, and now stand at 12 lakh tonnes valued at Rs 59,981 lakh. At present, ghee in India is the single largest available edible oil. None of the other edible oils, especially the cultivated ones, come anywhere nearer to ghee in terms of production and supply.
Ghee is a rich source of proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, calcium, iron and omega-3 fatty acids. It assists in improving brain and heart health and treating inflammation and numerous diseases. Ghee has taken on a revered status in some religions in India and is being used in ceremonial practices. It also plays a role in Ayurveda.
Vanaspati, a cheaper alternative
Since ghee is highly expensive, a kg currently at around Rs 500, many consumers are unable to afford it. Naturally, a product emerged to meet the demand of the low-cost market, and that’s Vanaspati ghee/dalda. Vanaspati ghee manufacturing started in 1930 in India with a modest production of 303 tonnes. Being a cheaper alternative, it has become a component of traditional Indian cuisine.
Vanaspati ghee is a fully or partially hydrogenated vegetable cooking oil made from palm or palmolein oil. As it stands, Vanaspati ghee has roughly 10% share in the edible oil market with an annual production of 1.2 million tonnes. Much like ghee, it has a rich taste and flavour, and is used for cooking purposes globally. The trans fatty acids (TFA) present in vanaspati function like saturated fats.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, every year, 5.4 lakh deaths take place due to the intake of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids. WHO has called for the global elimination of trans fat by 2023. In 2011, India passed a regulation that set a TFA limit of 10% in oils and fats, and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) further proposed a resolution to limit its presence in edible fats and oils to 2% by 2022.
Despite the longer shelf life of vanaspati-cooked foods, they are being discouraged by nutritionists. This is mainly because palm oil is the raw material plus the product dalda has undesirable trans fatty acids. Hence its production and usage have remarkably been reduced. Vanaspati production rose from 1.55 lakh tonnes in 1950 to 14.5 lakh tonnes in 2000 and started declining. It was around 4.4 lakh tonnes in 2021. The current estimated demand for vanaspati is around 3% of the total availability/consumption in the country.
Consequent to the regulation on the use of domestic edible oils in the vanaspati industry, imported palm oil is mostly consumed by the vanaspati industry and to some extent by the snack food industry and domestic consumers. Currently, only 110 registered vanaspati units are functioning across India.
Blending of Oils
To overcome quality deficiencies, the Centre has permitted the blending of two or more oils and helped improve the quality of oils. At present, only two or more vegetable oils are permitted for blending. We recommend ghee also as the best possible fat for blending to improve nutritional quality and aroma. Otherwise, as per the recommendation to use two or more oils to satisfy the needs of MUFA (oleic acid) and PUFA (linoleic & linolenic acids), ghee too can be included in the daily diets. Many households now utilise ghee as an aroma enhancer during the consumption of food.
Further encouragement to boost the production of cultivated oilseeds, especially rapeseed, groundnut, sesame, safflower and niger will go a long way in enhancing the health of the nation. Simultaneously, necessary support to the dairy industry for increasing organised ghee production is a must. Such steps will be highly useful in reducing not only the import of edible oils but also in making available healthier edible oils to our population.
(G Nagaraj is former Principal Scientist & Head (CP) and T Damodaram is former Senior Documentation-cum-Information Officer, ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad)