09/30/2002 (Financial Times)The recent setback in kharif oil seeds production will lead to a 6-lakhtonne shortage of edible oils in India. Assuming that the kharif 2002edible oils output will last till Mar 2003, it is estimated that betweenNov 2002 and Mar 2003 about 20.75 lakh tonnes of edible oil need to beimported against 13 lakh tonnes imported during Nov 2001-Mar 2002. Theimport requirement will be 16.65 lakh tonnes of palm oil and 4.10 lakhtonnes of soft oils.