26/06/2012 (Times of India) -  Indian government and industrialists may be speaking on sustainable growth and raising a voice for a greener world at the UN conference on Environment and Development at Rio, but their palm oil import practices tell another tale. A report released on Tuesday by Greenpeace, an environment NGO, shows that many Indian companies source palm oil, an essential ingredient in food products and soaps, from an Indonesian production firm, known for its environmental malpractices. The Indonesian palm oil giant supplies the oil to a big importer in India, which in turn sources it to major food and beverage companies. The Indonesian company has almost 1.5 lakh hectares of palm oil plantation area which it has extensively deforested, said a report released by Greenpeace.

The company, which is a member of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), was also suspended by the latter after complaints of it using fire to clear rainforests in Indonesia. "Though this company is now a member of the RSPO again, the membership doesn't guarantee the implementation of the standards to produce the oil on a sustainable basis," said Nandikesh Sivlingam, forest campaigner, Greenpeace. "Palm oil producers need to adopt no deforestation policies to make the production sustainable," he added. The deforestation of the rainforests has also put to peril the Sumatran tigers and orangutans.

The reports said that India is the leading importer of palm oil and imports 7.2 million tones from Indonesia. "This is why, if Indian companies decide to insist on sustainably produced oil, Indonesian giants would be compelled to meet the needs of their main importers,"said another member. Indonesia, the report said, is the leading producer and importer of palm oil and around 2.5 million hectares of land there is under palm oil cultivation.