BV Mehta, executive director, SEA, said that value addition within India should be the prime focus of the country and raw material (castor seed) exports should be discouraged.
The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) has alleged that China has been attempting to buy castor seed in a big way from India. “During the last few months, China has been aggressively buying commodities to bolster their state reserves. We understand they are also targeting to buy big quantities of castor seeds from India. Traditionally, China buys castor oil and derivatives from India but this new found interest in looking to buy castor seeds has a huge ramifications for our domestic industry,” the association has stated in a letter to Piyush Goyal, Union minister for commerce & industry
“India supplies almost 85-90% of the world’s requirement of castor oil and its derivatives. We have a very well-developed processing industry and our exports of castor oil touch almost Rs 6,000 crore per annum. The processing industry provides employment to large number of persons both directly and indirectly. In case, China starts buying castor seeds aggressively, our processing industry would suffer,” the association pointed out in the memorandum.BV Mehta, executive director, SEA, said that value addition within India should be the prime focus of the country and raw material (castor seed) exports should be discouraged.
The association has urged the ministry to take necessary steps to discourage the export of castor seed by taking suitable action, such as fixing minimum export price (MEP) or imposing export duty on castor seed.
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