MUMBAI, Sept 18 Reuters India39;s edible oil consumption is set to grow at a pace of 23 as cooking oils remain affordable despite an import duty hike, a leading importer told Reuters on Wednesday.

New Delhi on Friday raised the basic import tax on crude and refined edible oils by 20 percentage points to help protect farmers reeling from lower oilseed prices.

As we enter the peak festival season, demand will remain strong. Despite the duty hike, edible oil prices are affordable, said Sanjeev Asthana, chief executive officer at Patanjali Foods Ltd.

Edible oils39; demand could grow by 23 in the 20242025 marketing year starting from Nov. 1 because of rising population and prosperity, he said.

India is the world39;s largest importer and meets 70 of its vegetable oil demand through foreign sourcing. It buys palm oil from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while soyoil and sunoil come from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

The country39;s palm oil imports in 202425 could be between 910 million metric tons compared to around 9 million tons this year as tropical oil is likely to regain the market share it lost to rival sunflower oil due to a higher premium, he said.

We witnessed an unusual surge in sunflower oil imports this year due to attractive prices. Next year, sunflower oil imports may return to the normal range of 3 million tons, he said.

India39;s sunoil imports in the current year are expected to surge to record 3.6 million tons from yearago 3 million tons….