July 27, 2020
Amul ventures into a new business of edible oils category in Gujarat and Rajasthan, after PM called for Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
Amul introduces Janmay oil range that includes cottonseed oil, groundnut oil, mustard oil, sunflower oil, and soybean oil which will be on retail shelf in 1 litre pouch, 5 litre jar and 15 kg tin packing canister.
Amul ventures into a new business of edible oils category in Gujarat and Rajasthan, after PM called for Atma Nirbhar Bharat. With the launch of variant edible oils, the company looks to reduce India’s dependency of edible oils while supporting local farmers as well. “GCMMF is happy to launch ‘Janmay’ range of edible oils in Gujarat to provide remunerative prices to edible oilseeds growers in Banas, North Gujarat and South Gujarat,” R.S. Sodhi, Managing Director, Amul, tweeted.
Seeing the current economic condition, India is heavily dependent on foreign countries for the import of cooking oils and imports about 65% of its total consumption for household and commercial use.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has so far been opposed to any restrictions being put on Chinese vendors and has said geopolitical issues should not be mixed with businesses between the countries.
Amul has for some time been talking about the remorseful state of India’s edible oil industry. In an interview earlier in January 2020, Sodhi said that milk will have a similar fate as edible oil if the country does not check imports from foreign countries. Back in January 2020, Sodhi said, “Till the 90s, we were more or less self-sufficient in edible oil. Now, 70% of our consumption is imported”.
In past, India had liberalized edible oils imports regardless of the fact that the country had over 90% self-sufficiency in the category. This was at the cost of domestic producers and India now is world’s largest importer of edible oils spending around Rs. 75,000 crore annually on imports.
In a statement, the company said, “Our country is highly dependent on imported oils with around 65% of oils consumed is imported oils as the trend is skewed towards refined oils. Indigenous oils like Groundnut oil, Mustard oil contribute around 25% of total oil consumption in India. Some farmers are from the cooperatives which Amul sources its milk, are not just dairy farmers but also cultivate oil seeds like groundnut, cottonseed, mustard etc… in Gujarat, who have given a headstart to Amul in oil category.
Amul is manufacturing the edible oils at a new facility in Palanpur, North Gujarat.