BOMBAY (March 12 2003) : Edible oil imports by India, the world's largestbuyer, rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.12 million tonnes inNovember-February, a trade body said on Tuesday.

Imports of crude palm olein leapt 85.9 percent to 386,294 tonnes in thefirst four months of the oil year which began in November, IndianVegetable oil Processors Association said in a statement.

India imported 220,448 tonnes of crude soyabean oil during the period, arise of 34.4 percent from the corresponding period of the previous year.

It buys palm oils mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia and soya oil fromArgentina and Brazil.

But imports of crude palm oil (CPO) fell 15.9 percent to 498,804 tonnes,while purchases of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein werejust 1,000 tonnes compared with 109,481 tonnes a year earlier, it said.

The sharp fluctuation in palm oil imports was mainly due to a change inimport duties in late 2001, which prompted traders to gradually switchover to crude oils from refined ones.

In February, edible oil imports increased 3.9 percent to 226,692 tonnesfrom a year earlier, including 40,050 tonnes of crude soya oil and 100,391tonnes of CPO, the statement said.-Reuters