12.5% Fall In Import Of 300 Sensitive Items In Q1

Import of 300 sensitive items registered a 12.5 per cent decrease to Rs 2,200 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year, compared to Rs 2,500 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Commerce department officials told Business Standard that import of cotton, spices, tea, coffee and crude edible oils increased, while import of other categories including alcoholic beverages, foodgrains and milk and milk products decreased.

Import of 20 tariff lines reserved for production by Indian small-scale industries registered a 20 per cent decrease.

Though import of these 300 sensitive items, identified by the government for continuous monitoring by an inter-ministerial group headed by the commerce secretary, registered a 12.5 per cent decrease, the rise was more pronounced in June.

During April and May this year, import of these items was estimated to have decreased by 11.18 per cent to Rs 1,411 crore.

Import of the 300 items in June is the highest in one month. In the first two months imports hovered around the Rs 750 crore mark.

According to commerce department data released on Wednesday, India