Sensitive items import up by 7.8% in Apr-Mar

India's import of sensitive items, including foodgrains and milk products, has gone up by 7.8% to Rs 70,656 crore in 2010-11, from Rs 65,565 crore in the year-ago period.

Foodgrains' import soared to Rs 252.36 crore during the last fiscal from Rs 118.02 crore in the year-ago period, according to an official data released today.

Items such as foodgrains, automobiles, milk and beverages fall in the sensitive category and the import of these are monitored by the government to see if there is any adverse impact on the domestic industry.

Milk and dairy products' import increased to Rs 761.4 crore and that of automobiles rose to Rs 2,562.10 crore during the period under review, from Rs 290.38 crore and Rs 1,200.92 crore, respectively in 2009-10.

During April-March 2010-11, import of items such as alcoholic beverages and rubber also increased by 48.1% and 82.7%, respectively.

As per the data, the import of edible oils increased by 12.9% to Rs 29,319.11 crore.

Import of products of small-scale industries like umbrella, locks, toys and glassware also went up by 54.6% to Rs 1,541.63 crore over the same period previous year.

"The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions," the data said.

However, import of pulses, and cotton and silk contracted by 17% and 17.2%, respectively, in 2010-11. No reason was disclosed for the contraction.

Import of sensitive items amounted to 4.4% of the country's total import during the period.

The gross import of all commodities during 2010-11, was Rs 15,96,869.37 crore compared to Rs 13,63,735.55 crore in 2009-10.

Import of sensitive items from countries such as the UK, China, Korea, Argentina, Germany, Thailand have gone up, while those from the US, Myanmar, Brazil, Japan and Canada decreased during the period under review, the data added.