The country exports edible oils in small quantities to meet expatriate demand. Otherwise, edible oil is India’s third-biggest import item after crude oil and gold.
According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), the country exported 80,765 tonnes of various edible oils valued at ₹955.51 crore during 2019-20, against 52,490 tonnes valued at ₹627.11 crore during the previous year 2018-19.
Of the total exports, groundnut oil shipments more than doubled to 38,225 tonnes in 2019-20, from 15,532 tonnes last year. It was mainly exported to China at 33,505 tonnes, it said. Besides this, 1,098 tonnes were exported to Bangladesh and 804 tonnes were shipped to Egypt in 2019-20.