'Healthier' oils on menu, but WPI yet to reflect change

MUMBAI: India's cooking oil basket has changed over the past decade, but the wholesale price index (WPI) still reflects older consumption patterns. While Indians have gradually shifted toward soybean, sunflower and mustard oils, the WPI still gives high weight to palm oil and vanaspati.

While palm oil remains the most consumed cooking oil, its share has declined from about 38.9% in 2011-12 to 31.8% in 2024-25. Yet, its WPI weight has stayed unchanged at 38.4%. Soybean oil's share has risen from 15.55% to 24.7%, while sunflower oil has nearly doubled from around 6% to 11.6% over the same period. Mustard and rapeseed oils have also grown in absolute volumes, reflecting a shift toward locally produced and perceived healthier oils.

In the WPI, edible oils together carry a weight of 2.64293% under food articles, fixed in 2011-12. "The weightage is based on consumption and average price. However, the consumption pattern of edible oils has totally changed in the last few years," said BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) that has flagged traditional high-weight items such as palm oil and vanaspati that have seen a clear decline in consumption.

As New Delhi sets up a working group led by economist Ramesh Chand to revise the WPI base year, the edible oil industry is calling for a rejig of weights to match current consumption trends.

"There is still significant availability of palm oil. However, its weightage should be rationalised downwards as demand is falling," SEA said in a report shared with the ministry of commerce.

The biggest change has been in vanaspati consumption, which still carries the highest WPI weightage. Vanaspati consumption in 2011-12 was 5.75% of total edible oil consumption but was 2.6% in 2024-25 and SEA has suggested a significant reduction in its weight.