National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds)

The National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds) is a Central scheme aimed at cutting India’s reliance on imported cooking oil. This article covers its goals, its main components, and how it fits into India’s wider edible oil strategy.

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IndEco0068 · Indian Economy

NMEO-Oilseeds

India imports over half its edible oil — two missions aim to close that gap

2021

NMEO-Oil Palm launches first

₹11,040 crore outlay, focused on oil palm in North-East India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Oct 2024

NMEO-Oilseeds is approved

₹10,103 crore over seven years, targeting oilseed production of 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31.

May 2025

Import duty on crude oils cut

Basic customs duty on crude palm, soybean, and sunflower oil drops from 20% to 10%.

Nov 2025

Oil palm nears its target

Coverage reaches 6.20 lakh hectares, close to the 6.5 lakh hectare goal for 2025-26.

Two Missions, One Target

Together, NMEO-Oilseeds and NMEO-Oil Palm aim to cover about 72% of India’s edible oil demand domestically by 2030-31 — a real gain, but still short of full self-reliance.

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Must Know

• The Union Cabinet approved NMEO-Oilseeds in October 2024. It runs for seven years, from 2024-25 to 2030-31, with an outlay of ₹10,103 crore.
• The mission’s main goal is self-reliance in edible oils, sometimes called Atmanirbharta. India currently imports more than half of its edible oil needs.
• It targets primary oilseed crops: rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soybean, sunflower, and sesamum. It also covers secondary sources like cottonseed, rice bran, and tree-borne oils.
• The mission aims to raise oilseed production from 39 million tonnes in 2022-23 to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31.

Good to Know

• NMEO-Oilseeds is implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It sits under the broader Krishonnati Yojana umbrella scheme.
• The mission plans 65 new seed hubs and 50 new seed storage units. These will be based at agricultural universities and ICAR institutes.
• A new digital tool, the SATHI portal (Seed Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory), tracks seed quality and availability. It supports five-year rolling seed plans.
• More than 600 Value Chain Clusters, spread across 347 districts, will cover about 10 lakh hectares of oilseed cultivation every year. Farmer Producer Organisations and cooperatives will anchor many of these clusters.

Test Yourself

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1. What is the primary goal of the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds)?

Achieving self-reliance in edible oils

Increasing India’s rice exports

Promoting organic pesticide use

Expanding cotton cultivation

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Great to Know

• NMEO-Oilseeds works alongside a separate, earlier mission: NMEO-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP). NMEO-OP, launched in 2021 with an outlay of ₹11,040 crore, focuses on oil palm cultivation, mainly in North-East India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Together, the two missions aim to raise India’s total edible oil production to 25.45 million tonnes by 2030-31. That would cover about 72 percent of projected domestic demand.
• The mission also targets 40 lakh additional hectares for oilseed cultivation. It plans to do this through rice-fallow and potato-fallow land use, intercropping, and crop diversification, not only through yield gains on existing farmland.

Current Affairs

• In an August 2026 Lok Sabha reply, the government reported strong 2025-26 progress on NMEO-Oilseeds. Free seed distribution covered 13.52 lakh hectares, well past its 10 lakh hectare annual target. (Source: KrishiCode)
• India’s oilseed production rose to 43.06 million tonnes in 2025-26, up from 39.67 million tonnes in 2023-24. The government has also sanctioned 60 of the planned Seed Hubs, and 50 seed storage units. (Source: KrishiCode)
• On the sister NMEO-Oil Palm mission, 27 oil palm processing mills are now operational across India. The mission also supports farmers through the four-year gestation period, before their palms first bear fruit. (Source: KrishiCode)
• To cushion farmers against low prices, NMEO-OP provides a Viability Gap Payment. So far, ₹18.90 crore has reached 9,244 oil palm farmers, across states like Assam, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. (Source: KrishiCode)
• The reply also explained the stakes: India imported 160.72 lakh tonnes of edible oil in 2024-25. Palm oil alone made up 75.17 lakh tonnes of that, or nearly 47 percent. (Source: KrishiCode)
• In May 2025, the government cut the basic customs duty on crude palm oil, crude soybean oil, and crude sunflower oil from 20 percent to 10 percent. The move aimed to lower retail cooking-oil prices while still protecting domestic processors. (Source: All India Radio News)
• By 31 March 2026, oil palm cultivation under NMEO-OP had reached 6.40 lakh hectares nationwide, closing in on its 6.5 lakh hectare target for 2025-26. Crude palm oil production has grown from 1.91 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 to 3.80 lakh tonnes in 2024-25. (Source: KrishiCode, citing a Lok Sabha reply)