India Imports

Weaker rupee to push India's import bill due to higher payments: GTRI

The weaker rupee will push the country's import bill due to higher payments for crude oil, coal, vegetable oil, gold, diamonds, electronics, machinery, plastics, and chemicals, economic think tank GTRI said on Friday. Citing an example, it said the depreciating domestic currency will increase India's gold import bill, especially as global gold prices have jumped 31.25 per cent, rising from USD 65,877 per kg in January 2024 to USD 86,464 per kg in January 2025. Since January 16, last year, the Indian Rupee (INR) has weakened by 4.71 per cent against the US dollar, falling from Rs 82.8 to Rs 86.7. In the last ten years, between January 2015 and 2025, the INR has weakened by 41.3 per cent against the US dollar, falling from Rs 41.2 to Rs 86.7, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said in its report. In comparison, the Chinese Yuan depreciated by 3.24 per cent, from Yuan 7.10 to Yuan 7.33. "Overall, weaker INR will inflate import bills, raise energy and input prices, leading to

Trade deficit eases to $21.94 billion in December as gold imports fall

Data showed merchandise exports contracted by 1 per cent year-on-year to $38.01 billion in December

Amid error in gold import figures, Panel formed for accurate data reporting

The government on Thursday formed a committee, comprising officials from commerce and customs, to create a robust mechanism for publishing consistent and accurate data following errors in gold import figures. In a statement, the commerce ministry said that due to the migration of data transmission mechanism from SEZ (special economic zone) to ICEGATE (Indian Customs Electronic Gateway), figures of precious metals needed revision as double counting was noticed. The double counting occurred because the system was calculating both imports into SEZ and subsequent clearance into DTA (domestic tariff area) as separate transactions after the migration. "A committee has been formed with stakeholders from DGCIS (Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics), DG Systems (CBIC) and SEZs for the creation of a robust mechanism for publishing consistent data," it said. The government has revised gold import data, bringing down numbers for November by USD 5 billion to USD 9.84 ..

For goods sent abroad for repairs, no tax implication based on value

The facility to import components under EPCG scheme for assembly or manufacture of capital goods by the importer was available earlier but has been discontinued since 2004

Not a great start for India's importers and exporters in the New Year

Donald Trump, who will take over as President of the United States, has threatened to hike import tariffs across the board, and impose high tariffs on imports from China, Canada, Mexico and India

Centre approves laptop and tablet imports for 2025 with mid-year review

The union government has approved the import of laptops and tablets for the year 2025, with a mid-year review to address supply-demand gaps and promote a gradual shift to local manufacturing

DGTR for anti-dumping duty on PVC paste resin from China, 5 others

The commerce ministry has recommended imposition of an anti-dumping duty of up to USD 707 per tonne on imports of PVC paste resin, used to make artificial leather and other technical textiles' products, from six countries, including China, for five years, with an aim to guard domestic producers. In its findings, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), a wing of the ministry, has concluded that 'Poly Vinyl Chloride Paste Resin' has been exported to India at a price below the normal value from certain players of the six nations -- China, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Taiwan, and Thailand. The move has resulted in dumping of the product into Indian markets. The notification of the directorate said imports from these countries have caused material injury to the domestic industry. "The authority recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports... so as to remove the injurious effects of the dumped imports on the domestic industry," it has said. The recommended duty ranges

Exporters: Know when you can claim duty drawback and Rodtep benefits

Drawback and Rodtep will be available only against export of goods. At the time of export of goods, one must declare the value of the goods in the shipping bill

India's finished steel imports from China reach all-time high, shows data

Total imports of finished steel were at an eight-year high with India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer, a net importer during the period

India's imports from UAE jumps 109% to $6.12 billion in Nov, shows data

India's imports from its free trade agreement partner UAE have jumped 109.57 per cent year-on-year to USD 6.12 billion in November, leaving a trade deficit of over USD 3 billion during the said month, according to the commerce ministry data. India's exports to the UAE rose by 11.38 per cent to USD 3 billion in the last month. Cumulatively, the imports from the UAE during April-November rose by 60.84 per cent to USD 44.76 billion against USD 27.83 billion in the same period previous fiscal, while exports were up by 15.25 per cent year-on-year to USD 23.94 billion compared to USD 20.77 billion in April-November 2023-24. The FTA between India and the UAE came into effect in May 2022. The UAE is the third-largest trading partner of India with USD 83.65 billion bilateral trade in 2023-24. The major goods imported include mineral oil, chemicals, essential oils and perfumes, precious and semi-precious stones, iron and steel products, copper, nickel and aluminium goods. Further, as per t

'Should not be concerned much about imports as long as exports' grow'

India should not be overly concerned about imports as long as exports' share continues to grow, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Thursday. He also said the world needs to avoid protectionism which creates more trade barriers and hinders movement of goods. The secretary said that one needs to avoid the mercantilist approach and should not bother too much about trade balance and imports. "Because if the Indian economy is growing at 7 per cent and if the world is growing at 3-3.5 per cent rate of growth then obviously India will be requiring more of consumption, more of imports and let me tell you that the role of imports in exports is also very very important," he said at a CII event. Imports of raw materials and intermediate products are essential, he said. "As long as we are able to improve our exports share, we should not be too much concerned about imports and that is what I feel that we need to avoid," he added. Further, Barthwal said developed countries are confused

Govt mandates use of locally-made solar cells from 2026 to curb imports

The government plans to increase its non-fossil fuel capacity to 500 GW by 2030 from about 156 GW at present

Biden should revive WTO dispute settlement mechanism before leaving

The decision to give a second term to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reflects broad recognition of her exceptional leadership and strategic vision for the future of the WTO

GOP lawmaker seeks to impose robust tariffs on Indian ceramic tile imports

Ahead of his party coming to power, a GOP lawmaker has demanded a robust tariffs on Indian ceramic tile imports claiming that the tile manufacturing industry in his state has been negatively impacted by the unfair and uncompetitive trade practices of Indian exporters, threatening good-paying manufacturing jobs in Tennessee. Tennessee jobs are at risk due to India's unfair and uncompetitive trade practices in the ceramic tile market, Congressman John Rose said after sending a letter in this regard to the outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Tennessee's manufacturers deserve a fair shake on the world stage, he said, adding that India's underhanded subsidisation and dumping of ceramic tile is upending the domestic market and hemming in American manufacturers. The Department of Commerce should use the tools at its disposal to aggressively counteract these nefarious trade practices to protect Tennessee jobs and domestic manufacturing, he said. In May, the department announced ...

Paper industry body flags below-cost imports, demands level playing field

Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has expressed concerns over rising imports of virgin fibre paperboard from countries like China and Chile, saying that below-cost shipments are hitting local producers and threatening their investments. The IPMA said that imports of virgin fibre paperboard (VFP), mainly used as packaging material for pharma, FMCG, and cosmetics products, have grown more than three-fold to 21,233 tonnes per month in the first six months of 2024-25 compared to the average 6,337 tonnes per month in 2021-22. "In August and September of the current fiscal, imports have been over 30,000 tonnes per month, which is over 20 per cent of the total domestic demand," IPMA said in a statement while demanding a level-playing field for local manufacturers. The situation is getting exacerbated by the rising imports from China and Chile and the impending threat of large-scale imports from Indonesia due to the recent capacity expansion of 1.2 million tonnes per annum mainl

CBIC should review its MOOWR instructions to ease operations for units

Irritants persist for MOOWR units, although over five years have passed since the introduction of MOOWR 2019 regulations

Laptop import cut of 5% in works; govt wants no supply disruption

The caveat assumes significance in context of the govt's announcement of its plan in Aug 2023 to issue licences for import of select IT hardware products to reduce the country's dependence on China

India's merchandise exports surge 17% in Oct, fastest pace in 28 months

Trade deficit widens to $27 bn as imports hit a high

China top import source for India during Apr-Oct, exports to China dip 9%

China was India's top import source with USD 65.89 billion, a 9.8 per cent year-on-year increase, worth of inbound shipments during the April-October period of this fiscal, according to the commerce ministry data. Exports to China, however, dipped by 9.37 per cent to USD 8 billion. During the period, the US emerged as the top export destination for the country with outbound shipments increasing by 6.31 per cent to USD 47.24 billion. During the period, the top 10 import sources of India were China, Russia, the UAE, the US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Korea, Switzerland and Singapore, the data showed. Imports from Russia rose by 8.85 per cent to USD 38.8 billion during April-October this fiscal from USD 35.65 billion a year ago. Similarly, the inbound shipments from the UAE rose by 55.12 per cent to USD 38.64 billion from USD 24.9 billion in the first seven months of the last fiscal. During the period, the top 10 export destinations of the country were the US, the UAE, the ...

India's import dependence on key pharma ingredients may reduce by half

Two newly inaugurated units will manufacture important molecules used in several common antibiotics