The ongoing war in Ukraine may impact the edible oil situation in India to some extent, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
In an interaction with presspersons in Bengaluru on Wednesday, the Union Minister explained that Ukraine is a large producer of sunflower oil and India imports it from there. She, however, added, “We have already started looking at various other places from where any other edible oil, which is used in India, if not sunflower oil, can be imported.”
While the country needed nearly 23 million tonnes oil seeds, its production was only 17 million tonnes. This had compelled the country to import six million tonnes of oil seeds, she said.
The country had also taken up a mission to identify and grow oil seeds in the areas where the environmental conditions are conducive, she said. But there was a gestation period of six years as it would take six years for the yield to start, she pointed out.
To a query on whether the ongoing war would also provide new opportunities for India in the form of possible wheat exports, she said: “That has been identified as one of the areas where we can rapidly move forward.”
‘Blessed to be representing Karnataka’
Ms. Sitharaman, who is a member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, said that she was blessed to be representing a State like Karnataka.
When asked if she would be recontesting from Karnataka as her term is coming to an end in 2022, she said, “I would not know. I will leave it to the party. Wherever the party sends me, if it sends me, I will have to go there.”
To a query on whether she would like to recontest from Karnataka, she said: “Why not? Karnataka is a wonderful State... I always had great admiration for Karnataka as it stood for several good things.”
