India's Edible Oil Imports may Grow 6-7 pct/yr.

NEW DELHI: India's edible oil imports could grow 6-7 per cent per year to 12 million tonnes by 2015 amid rising demand and stagnant oilseed output, Pranav Adani, managing director of Adani Wilmar said.

"The level of import can go up to 12 million tonnes by 2015," Adani, whose company is India's top seller of packaged cooking oils, said in the interview published on Monday.

India, the world's biggest edible oil buyer, bought 8.8 million tonnes in 2009/10, up 7.3 per cent from a year ago, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said.

Adani said edible oil import costs might rise 12-15 per cent in the coming 4-5 months, though prices would depend on demand and supply.

India's imports of soyoil have risen proportionately recently as the premium over palm oil remains attractively low.

Adani said the mix was unlikely to change despite palm oil price rises.

"The increase in palm prices will not significantly hamper quantity of imports," Adani said.

"In case of soyaoil, though the popularity is on rise, the proportion of imports would be in the same ratio."

Adani said the country's total oilseed output was about 34.9 million tonnes in 2010/11, up 3.2 million tonnes over the previous year due to a normal monsoon and other factors.

Adani said the domestic industry was likely to see consolidation with scope for growth.

"In last 2 years Adani Wilmar Limited has acquired several companies and we have a robust expansion pipeline for the next five years," he said.

The company would be open to acquiring palm plantations in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia if such an opportunity arose in the future, he said, but "at the moment, we are trying to consolidate" in India.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com