BOMBAY, June 13 (Reuters) - India's edible oil imports rose 26.4 percentto 471,570 tonnes in May from a year earlier, a leading trade body said onThursday.India, the world's largest edible oil importer, purchases palm oil mainlyfrom Malaysia and Indonesia and soyoil from Argentina and Brazil.Imports of crude palm oil (CPO) in May more than doubled to 216,249 tonnesfrom 95,128 tonnes, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said in astatement.India imported 101,242 tonnes of crude palm olein during the month againstnil imports in the same month of the previous year.But imports of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein plummetedto just 9,434 tonnes in May from 103,320 tonnes a year earlier, thestatement said.The sharp fluctuation in palm oil imports was mainly due to a change inimport duties effected by the government last year, which prompted tradersto switch to crude oils from refined ones.India currently imposes a 85 percent basic import duty on refined oil, 65percent on crude palm oil and 45 percent on soybean oil.Imports of soybean oil (degummed) marginally fell to 137,745 tonnes in Mayfrom 145,093 tonnes a year earlier.During November-May, the first seven months of the oil year, imports fell19 percent to 2.15 million tonnes from 2.66 million, the statement said.CPO imports were up 27.6 percent to 1.09 million tonnes, while imports ofsoybean oil rose by 24.9 percent to 505,454 tonnes during the same period.Imports of RBD palm olein fell sharply to 118,895 tonnes in November-Mayfrom 1.05 million tonnes, but crude plam olein imports substantiallyincreased to 415,174 tonnes from just 14,520 tonnes in the same period ofthe previous year.