StatsGuru: PM Modi's business agenda during US visit

In the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intends to revive bilateral economic ties. As Table 1 shows, trade has grown steadily since 2004, before flattening out in the past couple of years.



What this conceals, however, is shown in Table 2: That the share of imports from America has declined in India's total imports - a trend in exports to America, too, that has been reversed of late.


The US' share of trade with India, as Table 3 shows, is still large, and only marginally behind China's.

3: US’ SHARE IN INDIA’S TOTAL TRADE JUST BEHIND CHINA’S | Create Infographics

As Table 4 shows, India exports a lot of gems, clothing, and generic pharmaceuticals to the US. From the US, its imports include gems - the jewellery trade has far-flung supply chains - as well as nuclear reactors and aircraft and niche machinery, as shown in Table 5.

4: BULK OF EXPORTS ARE GEMS, CLOTHING & GENERICDRUGS | Create Infographics

5: WHILE NUCLEAR REACTORS, ETC, FORM BULK OF IMPORTS | Create Infographics

However, the changes in traded sectors over the past decade are instructive. Table 6 shows that clothing exports to the US have withered, though pharma has done well. And the US will note in Table 7 that "miscellaneous goods" - which includes high-tech items that change too quickly to be easily classified by the Indian commerce ministry - have grown as imports into India at the cost of many other sectors.

6: CLOTHING HAS WITHERED; PHARMA HAS DONE WELL | Create Infographics

7: IMPORTS OF MISCELLANEOUS GOODS HAVE GONE UP | Create Infographics

US business will want that to change. The PM, meanwhile, will want US business to pick up its foreign direct investment into India which, as Table 8 shows, has fallen recently.

8: FDI INFLOWS FROM US HAVE FALLEN RECENTLY | Create Infographics

Compiled by BS Research Bureau
Graphics by: Anisha Dutta