India has emerged as the largest importer of almonds from the US during August 2016 to February 2017, a senior Almond Board of California official said here today.

During the crop year 2015-16, India had stood third behind China and Spain, in terms of such imports from the US at 126 million pounds.

"From August 2016 to February this year, we have already shipped 120 million pounds, which is a 59 per cent growth. That has propelled India to become the largest export destination for Californian almonds (overtaking China and Spain)," the Almond Board of Californias (ABCs) Regional Director, India, Sudarshan Mazumdar told PTI.

"This year, the market is growing and we expect the import figures (for India) to grow further and we are expecting that within this year or next year, we will see a demand for 166 million pounds," Mazumdar said.