India’s edible oil import bill jumps 19% in H1 of oil year 2025-26
India’s edible-oil imports rose 13.66% by volume and 19% by value in November 2025 to April 2026, while refiners shifted away from expensive palm oil toward sunflower and soybean oil.
India increased edible-oil imports to 78.15 lakh tonnes in the first six months of the 2025-26 oil year, which runs from November to October, compared with 68.76 lakh tonnes in the same period a year earlier. Data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India show a 13.66% rise in volume, while the value of those imports climbed to about Rs 87,000 crore from Rs 73,000 crore, a year-on-year increase of 19%.
April highlighted a shift inside the import basket. Total edible-oil imports rose to 13.07 lakh tonnes from 11.73 lakh tonnes in March, but crude palm oil imports fell to 5.10 lakh tonnes from 6.73 lakh tonnes, a drop of 24.21%. Imports of RBD palmolein plunged 88.62%, from 13,498 tonnes in March to only 1,536 tonnes in April, showing how sharply buyers pulled back from refined palm products.
At the same time, refiners bought more alternatives. Sunflower-oil imports more than doubled in April to 4.34 lakh tonnes from 1.96 lakh tonnes in March, while soybean-oil imports increased to 3.60 lakh tonnes from 2.87 lakh tonnes. SEA executive director B. V. Mehta said weak demand and higher palm prices changed purchasing patterns, because a rally in palm oil reduced its discount to rival oils and made it less attractive to refiners.
Even so, palm oil remained the largest component over the full November-April period. Combined imports of crude palm oil and RBD palmolein rose to 39.67 lakh tonnes from 27.44 lakh tonnes a year earlier. Sunflower-oil imports were 15.50 lakh tonnes versus 15.29 lakh tonnes, while soybean-oil imports were 22.91 lakh tonnes compared with 26 lakh tonnes previously. Mehta added that palm-oil import prices in April were 14-15% higher than a year earlier, while soybean and sunflower oil prices were up 17-22%. He also flagged the rupee’s depreciation of more than 9.2% over the past year as a concern for importers and refiners.
Supplier data underline the regional trade picture. Indonesia and Malaysia shipped 16.3 lakh tonnes and 15.2 lakh tonnes of palm oil respectively. Argentina supplied 13.32 lakh tonnes of soybean oil and Brazil 4.25 lakh tonnes. For sunflower oil, Russia supplied 8.1 lakh tonnes and Ukraine 2.74 lakh tonnes. The report also pointed to Nepal’s role in refined-oil flows: around 2.17 lakh tonnes were exported from Nepal to India during November-February, followed by roughly 63,000 tonnes in March and 65,000 tonnes in April, adding another factor to regional edible-oil trade dynamics.