Among the agricultural commodities imported by India, which one of the following accounts for the highest imports in terms of value in the last five years?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Vegetable oils
Vegetable (edible) oils are India's largest agricultural import by value. Imports of vegetable oils bridge the gap between domestic demand and supply; spices, fresh fruits and pulses all account for a smaller share.
- ✓ (d) The Ministry of Agriculture names vegetable oils as the major agricultural import. Official import data for April-March 2014 to 2017 (Lok Sabha reply, Government of India open data) show vegetable oils at the top every year, well above pulses, fresh fruits and spices; and in 2019-20, of agricultural imports worth USD 19.91 billion, vegetable oils took the largest share, 48 per cent.
- ✗ (c) Pulses are among the major agri imports, but vegetable oils hold the largest share by value.
- ✗ (b) Fresh fruits are named among the major agri imports, but vegetable oils hold the largest share by value.
- ✗ (a) Spices are named among the major agri imports, but vegetable oils hold the largest share by value.
Remember · Vegetable (edible) oils are India's largest agricultural import by value (48 per cent of agri imports in 2019-20); pulses, fresh fruits, cashew nuts and spices are other major imports.
Sources
- Government of India Open Data (data.gov.in): Parliament reply, agricultural imports by commodity, April-March 2014 to 2017 ↗ “Sl.No,Commodity,Apr-Mar 2014,Apr-Mar 2015,Apr-Mar 2016,Apr-Mar 2017 1,Vegetable Oils,7249.85,10621.48,10492.08,10892.75 2,Pulses,1828.16,2786.11,3902.22,4244.13”
- PIB (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare), Agricultural Imports, 23 Sep 2020 ↗ “Major agro products imported in the country are edible vegetable oils, pulses, fresh fruits, raw cashew nuts, raw sugar, raw cotton and spices which, in value terms, constitute nearly 84% share in India’s total agri imports.”
- PIB (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare), Reducing Dependency on Agricultural Imports, 17 Mar 2021 ↗ “During 2019-20 the import of Agri commodities was 19.91 USD Billion and the import of vegetable oils constituted the largest share i.e. 48%.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·