(a) the number of vanaspati units in the country as on date, State-wise;
(b) the number of such units which are lying closed, State-wise;;
(c) whether the vanaspati industry has shown only marginal growth during the past two
years;
(d) if so, the reasons for such slow rate of growth of the said industry in the country; and
(e) the action taken by the Government to revive the closed vanaspati units?
THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
( SHRI SHARAD YADAV )
(a),(b),(c),(d)&(e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a),(b),(c),(d)&(e) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO.284 DUE
FOR ANSWER ON 02-08-2002 IN THE LOK SABHA.
(a)&(b): There are 232 vanaspati units in the country out of which 86 units are lying
closed at preset. State-wise details are enclosed (Annex).
(c): According to available information, annual capacity of the vanaspati industry
(in terms of vanaspati, margarine, bakery shortening and refined oils) has increased from
45.22 lakh MTs to 63.09 lakh MTs during the last two years, thus representing a growth of
39.5%.
(d): Does not arise.
(e): The closure of the vanaspati units was on account of various factors, such as creation
of production capacity not commensurate with availability of raw materials, obsolete technology,
poor economies of scale, competition from cheaper imports from Nepal under the India-Nepal
Trade Treaty, etc. The measures taken by the Government to improve the health of the domestic
vanaspati industry include, inter alia, the following:
(i) On the import of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) intended for the manufacture of vanaspati,
customs duty is levied at a concessional rate.
(ii) The India-Nepal Treaty of Trade has been revised w.e.f. 6.3.2002. Under this
revision, the total quantity of duty free import of vanaspati from Nepal has been fixed at
one lakh MTs per annum. The import of vanaspati from Nepal has also been canalized now
through the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).
(iii) With effect from 1.3.2002, Special Additional Duty (SAD) @ 4% is being levied on import
of vanaspati from Nepal.
ANNEX
ANNEX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a)&(b) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 284 DUE FOR ANSWER
ON 02-08-2002 IN THE LOK SABHA.
VANASPATI UNITS IN THE COUNTRY As on 24.7.2002
State/Zone Total No.of Units No. of Running Units No. ofClosed Units
EAST ZONE Assam 2 0 2 Bihar 6 3 3 Orissa 4 1 3 West Bengal 14 9 5 Manipur 1 0 1 Sikkim 1 0 1 Sub Total: 28 13 15 WEST ZONE Gujarat 12 8 4 Maharashtra 23 12 11 Madhya Pradesh 15 10 5 Sub Total: 50 30 20 NORTH ZONE Delhi 1 0 1 Himachal Pradesh 2 2 0 Haryana 14 11 3 J&K 8 6 2 Punjab 33 22 11 Rajasthan 19 8 11 Uttar Pradesh 33 23 10 Sub Total: 110 72 38 SOUTH ZONE Andhra Pradesh 21 15 6 Kerala 4 1 3 Karnataka 5 2 3 Tamil Nadu 14 13 1 Sub Total: 44 31 13 GRAND TOTAL: 232 146 86