Story in numbers: Steep drop in industrial demand may spoil recovery

The headlines panicking over a dramatic record fall in India’s merchandise exports in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic hid an unpleasant truth regarding the country's industrial performance. Policymakers at the commerce department have remained concerned for the entire 2019-2020 over the steep fall in imports, matching India's flagging export fortunes. Lack of domestic consumer demand and cyclical ebbing of global commodity prices have repeatedly been cited by the government as reason.

But now, sources confirm the Piyush Goyal-led department is closely watching the steep drop in non-oil, non-gold imports, which are key for maintaining industrial growth. While crude oil