Sunflower oil is one of the most common edible oils; it is obtained by the mechanical pressing of sunflower seeds. The Sunflower seed contains about 48 – 53 percent edible oil. The oil is mainly used for cooking and shortening, and for preparing salad dressing and margarine. Sunflower oil is a health benefitting oil due to its low content of saturated fats, high levels of PUFAs and monounsaturated fatty acids, and vitamin E. It has good oxidative stability, and the high-oleic sunflower oil is suitable for industrial frying.

India is the third largest consumer of sunflower oil in the world after the EU and Russia. Since the production of Sunflower is limited in the country, India is majorly dependent on the import of Sunflower Oil mainly from Ukraine, Russia and Argentina. Based on last five years’ data (2018-23), these three countries jointly account for around 95% share of total imports into India with Ukraine having the highest share i.e. around 70%.