A Study on the Influence of RSPO and RTRS in Indian Market

Abstract

This paper strives to study the presence and impact of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) in India today. The reason for choosing these two roundtables is - India is one of the significant producers of soy oil and is one of the largest markets for palm oil globally. With the roundtables being established keeping in mind the case of sustainability for the procurement and usage of soy oil and palm oil, and India playing a major role in both, it becomes extremely important to study how sustainable the Indian market is in terms of product manufacturing and usage involving soy oil and palm oil. The previous papers have done an extensive study on RSPO in India, the global presence, and the impact of RTRS. They have a lot of quantitative and qualitative data regarding the presence of RTRS and RSPO. However, a gap exists, as RSPO and RTRS have not been analyzed together in the Indian context. Thus, this gap shall be addressed in this paper- we attempt to analyze the latest RTRS and RSPO in India by referencing previous papers and looking up the public domain for recent information specific to RSPO and RTRS in India. This paper is a literature review of previous papers on RSPO in Indian reference and RTRS and adds updated information. A comparative analysis of the presence of RSPO and RTRS in India is also added. Both RSPO and RTRS have a lot to increase their influence in the Indian market- especially RTRS. The paper concludes with recommendations for enhancing the influence and opens further discussion on implementing the recommendations and alternative recommendations, if any, in the future.