Washington India is expected to replace China as the world’s largest soybean oil importer, the US Department of Agriculture said and projected India can become the third largest rice exporter by 2012. “India is projected to replace China as the world’s largest soybean oil importer. In the projections, India’s soybean oil imports climb 28 per cent to 1.2 million tons,” it said. Factors that contribute to the continued growth of India’s soyoil imports include burgeoning demand for vegetable oils and a limited capacity to expand domestic oilseed production.