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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025

By Taniva Singha Roy and J. Navya Sruthi

MUMBAI – Rice bran oil has the potential to be a substitute for palm oil and eventually reduce India's import dependency on the latter, Somnath Chatterjee, executive vice president - head of procurement and logistics for ITC Ltd.'s foods division, told Informist on the sidelines of Globoil India.

Bran, a by-product of milling paddy, is used to produce oil, and unlike oil palm, paddy is grown in India in surplus and is milled twice a year. Rice bran oil can be produced throughout the year except between August and November when bran is not available for milling as paddy is sown in July and harvested in October. Imports of crude rice bran oil will be required only during this time and if the government lowers the import duty like it has for other edible oils to 10%, a year-long supply of rice bran oil can be ensured, Chatterjee said.

Moreover, due to advanced technology for refining rice bran through the process of winterisation, it is a completely neutral oil. This makes it a fair competitor to palm oil, he said.

Although demand for rice bran oil is lower than that for palm oil at the moment, Chatterjee believes that once it is made available in surplus, the demand would increase. "Sometimes availability drives demand," he said. There is lower demand for the oil as people are aware that is not produced in surplus like other vegetable oils and they have to replace it soon after using due to lower availability, Chatterjee added.

Promoting usage of rice bran oil will support the Indian rice industry, rice farmers, and mills, he added. 

GOVT WHEAT SALES

On wheat, Chatterjee said there won't be any impact on prices even if there are no open market sales, as there is surplus availability of wheat from the 2024-25 (Jul-Jun) season. As of Sept. 1, wheat stocks in the central pool were up over 32% on year at 33.3 million tonnes, data with Food Corp. of India showed. The current wheat stocks are well above the buffer norm of 27.58 million tonnes--operational stock of 24.58 million tonnes and strategic reserve of 3.00 million tonnes.

"I don't think there is a problem with supply of wheat this year and prices will not shoot up even if the open market sales do not happen," he said. Chatterjee is mildly bearish on wheat prices due to surplus availability. Should the prices start moving up, the government will start open market sales. The government has allocated 3 million tonnes of wheat for open market sales for the current year.

However, there will be an impact on the demand for by-products of wheat, which are being replaced by distillers dried grains with solubles which is a cheaper substitute for animal feed, he said. But, wheat bran is now being allowed for exports on tender, which the government should allow completely and not on tender basis, he said 

In terms of exports, Chatterjee said that although ample wheat is available, it is too soon to allow exports. "Maybe for wheat, we need to watch another season and take a call on opening up exports," he said. If there is good a crop again in 2026, exports should be allowed.  End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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