DENPASAR, Bali – India is seen not yet able to meet its target of raising national palm oil production despite already implementing the program of expanding plantation areas during the last four years. Such condition is believed to maintain the position of Indonesia as the main supplier of palm oil to Indian market.
It was revealed by the Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA) Chairman Atul Chaturvedi during a panel discussion of the Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) 2025 in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday (14/11/2025).
He said that since 2021 India has been implementing its national program on National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), which targets expansion of oil palm plantations up to 1.67 million hectares and production increase of crude palm oil (CPO) to 2.8 million tons in 2030. The government of India has also provided a variety of incentives from planting materials, agricultural facility support, up to trainings of farmers.
But according to Chaturvedi, the results are still far from what was initially targeted. Until 2030, its oil palm plantation areas are projected to be only realized at around 0.75 million hectares, while the domestic production of CPO is projected to reach at no more than 1.0 million tons.
“With the palm oil need of India at 8.25 million tons per year and projected to increase up to 50 million tons in 2047, the imports of palm oil will continue to become the main source of supply to meet the rising domestic need of the country,” said Chaturvedi.
He said Indonesia will continue to become the strategic partner of India, considering that there is still the high gap between domestic production and domestic demand.
But despite the big opportunity, Chaturvedi reminded that Indonesia should continue maintain the competitiveness of its product. Indian market is very sensitive to changes of prices and there are other alternative vegetable oils, such as soybean and sunflower. Besides, negative campaigns against palm oil still pose serious challenges that need to be addressed through public education and strengthening of sustainability narratives.
IPOC 2025 is one of the biggest forum of palm oil industry in Asia, bringing together business players, analysts, and policy makers to discuss the dynamics of global market and future prospects of palm oil industry. (*)
