Vegetable oils are daily necessities used in all over the world and different types of oilseeds are grown everywhere. Besides serving as a food purpose, vegetable oils are also the source of biodiesel, the new environmental friendly fuel. India is one of the largest producers of oilseeds in the world and this sector occupies an important position in the agricultural economy. Oilseeds and edible oils are two of the most sensitive essential commodities. India grows oilseeds on an area of over 26 million hectares, with productivity of around 1000 kg a hectare. But self–reliance in edible oils is not in sight and the country imports almost half of its edible oil requirements. India has a wide range of oilseeds crops grown in its different agro climatic zones. Groundnut, mustard, rapeseed, sesame, safflower, linseed, castor are the major traditionally cultivated oilseeds. Soyabean and sunflower have also assumed importance in recent years. Coconut is most important amongst the plantation crops. Among the non-conventional oils, rice bran oil and cottonseed oil are the most important. India has relatively lower yields on the back of growing oil seeds in marginal and sub marginal lands under low input usage. To bridge the gap between demand and supply, country is compelled to import a large quantity of edible oils. India has become the largest importer of vegetable oils in the world. Imports are taking place in two forms-refined and crude oil. A large part of the crude oil gets sold as unbranded oil. The share of raw oil, refined oil and vanaspati in the total edible oil market is estimated at 35%, 55% and 10% respectively. The domestic turnover of the vegetable oil industry is Rs 10,0000 crore and import-export turnover of about Rs. 40000 crore per annum, consisting of Rs. 27000 crore for import of vegetable oils & Rs. 13000 crore for export of oil meals, oilseeds, castor oil, groundnut oil & vegetable fats of tree borne oilseeds. The global production of 10 major oilseeds is estimated at around 430 million tonnes for 2009-10 and big supply pressure ahead for Soyabean and soya meal from March, the analyst said vegetable oil demand (food and non-food) is set to exceed production again this year with bio-fuel output set to accelerate. The oilseed stocks have recover, oils and fats stocks are likely to decline further in 2009-10. The sunflower oil prices rising steeply by $120-150 a tonne from current values. India may overtake China as the worlds top importer of vegetable oil, and growth in the two nations consumption will drive global demand for palm and soybean oil, according to Cofco Ltd., Chinas biggest grain trader. Controls and regulations by government have left the edible oil industry in a highly competitive market dominated by both domestic and multinational players. It is the right time for an entrepreneur to venture into this sector which is highly profitable. Few Indian Major Players are as under: Adani Wilmar Ltd. Agro Tech Foods Ltd. Akash Agro Inds. Ltd. Allana Oil Mills Ltd. Ambik Protiens Ltd. Ambuja Agro Industries Ltd. Ankur Protein Inds. Ltd. Arti Agro Inds. Ltd. Asha Agro Inds. Ltd. Ashiana Agro Inds. Ltd. Ashiana Proteins Ltd. [Erstwhile] Atlas Soya Proteins Ltd. B C L Industries & Infrastructures Ltd. Bansal Oil Mill Ltd. Bhaagyalakshmi Vegetable Products Ltd. Bombay Oil Inds. Pvt. Ltd. Budge Budge Refineries Ltd. Chaitanya Oils Ltd. Chakan Vegoils Ltd. Chand Vanaspati Ltd. Chhatar Extractions Ltd. Coromandel Agro Products & Oils Ltd. Dewas Soya Ltd. Dr. M Soy Proteins Ltd. Edible Products (India) Ltd. G S Oils Ltd. Gem Refineries Ltd. Godrej Hershey Ltd. Godrej Oil Plantations Ltd. Gokul Refoils & Solvent Ltd. Golden Proteins Ltd. Goyal Proteins Ltd. Hindustan Vegetable Oils Corpn. Ltd. Ichalkaranji Soya Ltd. India Ceroils Ltd. Integrated Proteins Ltd. J R Foods Ltd. J S P Oils & Fats Ltd. Jain Farms Palm Oil Ltd. Jewel Polymers Pvt. Ltd. K P L Oil Mills Pvt. Ltd. K P Solvex Ltd. K S Oils Ltd. Kalyan Solvent Extractions Ltd. Kedia Continental Ltd. Kedia Overseas Ltd. Kemicare Products Ltd. Khalsa Overseas Ltd. Khandesh Extraction Ltd. Kirti Dal Mills Ltd. Kocher Oil Mills Ltd. Kohinoor Feeds & Fats Ltd. Kothari Global Ltd. Kusum Agrotech Ltd. Kusum Construction & Oils Ltd. Liberty Oil Mills Ltd. M Ravji Oil Inds. Ltd. Mac Oil Palm Ltd. Madhu Refoils & Chemicals Ltd. Madhur Agro Proteins Ltd. Maheshwari Proteins Ltd. Maheshwari Solvent Extraction Ltd. Mangalwedhe Sun-Soya Ltd. Mantora Agro Inds. Ltd. Marico Ltd. Morinda Overseas Inds. Ltd. Murli Industries Ltd. N K Proteins Ltd. Narmada Agro Inds. Ltd. National Protein & Solvent Ltd. Navcom Industries Ltd. Nu Tech Agros Ltd. Oil Palm India Ltd. Olinda Coconut Products Ltd. Orissa Oil Inds. Ltd. P H Sales & Services Ltd. Padmavati Oils (India) Ltd. Palmtech India Ltd. Prakash Solvent Extractions Ltd. Premier Industries (India) Ltd. Premier Proteins Ltd. Prima Industries Ltd. Prime Solvent Extractions Ltd. Progressive Exim Ltd. Prudential Sri Jagannath Agro-Tech Ltd. Puri Oil Mills Ltd. R L Agrotech Ltd. Radhekrishna Extractions Ltd. Raghunath Cotton & Oil Products Ltd. Raj Oil Mills Ltd. Rajani Extractions Ltd. Rajaram Solvex Ltd. Ramdeo Oil Inds. Ltd. Rathi Oils Ltd. Ravindra Solvent Oils Ltd. Rishi Oil & Fats Ltd. Ruchi Acroni Inds. Ltd. Ruchi Infrastructure Ltd. Ruchi Soya Inds. Ltd. S & S Industries & Enterprises Ltd. S I E L Edible Oils Ltd. S K G Solvex Ltd. S S D Oil Mills Co. Ltd. S U L India Ltd. Sagar Soya Products Ltd. Sam Industries Ltd. Sambandam Solvent Extraction Ltd. Sangam Solvent Extracts Ltd. Sanjivani Agro Inds. Ltd. Sarda Proteins Ltd. Sarvottam Industries Ltd. Sathya Kamal Agros Ltd. Satish Solvent Extractions Ltd. Shalimar Chemical Works Ltd. Sharda Solvent Ltd. Shiv Agrevo Ltd. Shobha Soya Oil Products Ltd. Shree Gobind Udyog Ltd. Shree Madhav Edible Products Ltd. Shri Anjaney Agro Foods Ltd. Shri Sainath Proteins Ltd. Siddaganga Oil Extractions Pvt. Ltd. Sri Murugarajendra Oil Industry Ltd. Surya Agroils Ltd. Synco Industries Ltd. Tamilnadu Agro Inds. Devp. Corpn. Ltd. Thapar Foods Ltd. Tinna Agro Inds. Ltd. Tinna Oils & Chemicals Ltd. Umred Agro Complex Ltd. Unique Agro Processors (India) Ltd. United Soya Products Ltd. Varuna Agroproteins Ltd. Vegepro Foods & Feeds Ltd. Vimal Oil & Foods Ltd. Vippy Industries Ltd. Visharda Oils Ltd. Vizar Agrochemicals Ltd. Wadala Commodities Ltd.