India Emerges as Malaysia’s Largest Palm Oil Seeds Importer in 2024, Boosting Edible Oil Mission.
International
On July 21, 2025, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) officially announced that India became the largest importer of germinated palm oil seeds from Malaysia in 2024. This development aligns with India’s strategic efforts to reduce edible oil imports and promote domestic cultivation under the National Mission on Edible Oils–Oil Palm (NMEO–OP).
- India imported 3.03 million tonnes (MT) of palm oil from Malaysia in 2024, making it the top destination for Malaysian palm oil exports. This quantity accounted for 17.9% of Malaysia’s total palm oil exports. The import surge reflects India’s growing demand for palm oil seeds to support its expanding oil palm cultivation strategy.
- India's imports are linked to the targets set under NMEO–Oil Palm, a mission launched in 2021 to promote edible oil self-sufficiency.
- The mission aims to increase oil palm cultivation to 1 million hectares by 2025–26, with a production goal of 2.8 million tonnes of crude palm oil by 2029–30. These targets aim to curb India’s dependency on edible oil imports, which currently form a significant part of the national food basket.
Main Point :- (i) As of now, India has brought about 370,000 hectares under palm oil cultivation, with a focus on Northeast India and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. These regions are prioritized due to their tropical climate, which is ideal for oil palm farming. States like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Assam are leading the regional expansion efforts.
(ii) The bulk purchase of germinated palm oil seeds from Malaysia is a strategic move to improve domestic production capacity. It not only ensures better productivity but also enhances the quality of planting materials for farmers enrolled under the scheme. This move is expected to boost rural employment and farmer incomes, in addition to ensuring long-term edible oil security.
(iii) The NMEO–OP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW). It provides financial and technical assistance to farmers for nursery development, seed procurement, processing units, and R&D. The initiative is aligned with India’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” vision to reduce dependence on global imports and develop a sustainable edible oil ecosystem.
About Malaysia
Prime minister: Anwar Ibrahim
Official language: Malay
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