Page 8 - India Imports

New US sanctions may curb Indian imports of Russian coal, say traders

The latest US sanctions also include Russia's payment system, financial institutions and energy production

Govt should talk more on its steps to protect farmer interests

The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) was one of the many agreements that were negotiated during the Uruguay Round and the option available was to accept all the agreements or none

India to sign billion dollar deal to extend LNG imports from Qatar

India is likely to sign on Tuesday a multi-billion dollar deal to extend LNG imports from Qatar till 2048 at rates that are lower than current prices, sources said. Petronet LNG Ltd will sign the deal with QatarEnergy to extend import of 7.5 million tonne a year on sidelines of India Energy Week here. Sources said the price will be "significantly' lower than current price. Petronet currently imports 8.5 million tonne a year of LNG from Qatar under two contracts. The first 25-year deal is to expire in 2028 and is now being extended for 20 additional years. The second deal for 1 million tonne a year entered into in 2015, will be negotiated separately, sources said. India, the world's third biggest energy consumer, sees natural gas as a transition fuel for migrating to net zero carbon emissions by 2070. As part of this, the government is targeting to raise the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix to 15 per cent by 2030 from 6.3 per cent now. Sources said the current deal

No immediate impact of US decision to pause LNG export permits: Officials

Officials however said major LNG routes into India do not cross the main maritime area affe ted Houthi strikes in and around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

AstraZeneca to import critical drugs to India, focus on cancer therapies

AstraZeneca is currently conducting 50 clinical trials in India

Red Sea route accounts for 50% country's exports, 30% of imports: Report

The impact of the ongoing crisis around the Red Sea shipping route, which accounts for 50 per cent of the country's exports and 30 per cent of imports last fiscal, will vary depending on the industry, according to a report. The crisis in the Red Sea shipping route began after Yemen-based Houthi rebels launched frequent attacks on commercial shipping vessels plying through the route in November as a fallout of the Israeli-Palestinian war, which started in early October 2023. Currently, the US and British forces are also engaged in counter-attacks on the militants. Domestic companies use the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal to trade with Europe, North America, North Africa and part of the Middle East. Last fiscal, these regions accounted for 50 per cent of the country's exports worth Rs 18 lakh crore and 30 per cent of imports worth Rs 17 lakh crore. The country's overall merchandise trade was Rs 94 lakh crore last fiscal, with 68 per cent in value and 95 per cent in volume being

With online monitoring system going live, PC imports turn a trickle in Nov

Inbound shipments drop on monthly and yearly bases

Overall imports down 4% but shipments from Russia, China up: Govt data

Overall exports, meanwhile, increased 0.9 per cent, according to the data compiled by the commerce department

Decision on laptops and tablets import system after September data

In October last year, India put in place an import management system under which importers of these products have to seek authorisation from the government

Domestic steel vacuum bottle makers urge govt to check imports from China

The All India Steel Bottle Association (AISBA) has urged the government to take immediate measures to check the imports of sub-standard and cheap steel vacuum flasks into India. The imports of vacuum steel bottles from China and other countries are on the rise and the country has seen a 35 per cent increase in imports of the product from 2019-20 to 2022-23, the industry body said citing an official data. Bharat Agarwal, Treasurer of AISBA, also suggested the government not to extend import relaxation under a BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) order which restricts quality approvals to such products beyond January 14, 2024. As per the order, he said, "January 14 is the last date by when the products getting imported are to be approved by the BIS". The products are not as per the BIS standards, hence the government must not extend the relaxation considering the issues faced by local manufacturers who have invested around Rs 1,500 crore in the Indian market, he said. "We have also not

War, weather put global ocean shippers on notice for rough seas in 2024

Maersk on Friday joined other major ocean carriers in rerouting ships away from the Red Sea to avoid missile and drone attacks in an area that leads to the vital Asia-Europe Suez Canal shortcut

USTR Tai to visit New Delhi next week for US-India trade policy forum meet

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is scheduled to travel to New Delhi next week and will co-chair the ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Ambassador Tai will travel to India from January 12-14 and begin her trip with a meeting with Goyal. She is also scheduled to meet Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar later. On January 13, Tai will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration's engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries. Tai's visit marks the first trip to India in the new year by a senior Biden administration official. Tai and Goyal will co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF). During this year's meeting, Tai and Goyal will discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including ...

Indian medtech industry urges govt action to reduce import dependency

According to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) report from August 2023, the Indian medical devices industry has the potential to expand from $12 billion today to $50 billion by 2030

Govt considering anti-dumping duty on circuit boards imported from China

The commerce ministry's arm DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of printed circuit boards imported from China, Hong Kong for five years to protect the domestic industry from cheap inbound shipments. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the duty after conducting an investigation on the dumped imports of these boards from these two countries. The PCBs (printed circuit boards) are assembled with electronic components like transistors, resistors, and capacitors. It is used in cars, telephones, ovens, toys, televisions, computers, and lighting solutions. "The authority recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports of the subject goods originating in or exported from China and Hong Kong for a period of five years...," the DGTR's notification has said. It added that imposition of the duty would not affect the availability of the product to the customers. The Indian Printed Circuit Association has filed an application for

Best of BS Opinion: Public versus private challenges, Crash test & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Import concessions

Trade agreements should focus on overall gains

Govt bans imports of cheap screws to support domestic manufacturing

The government on Wednesday imposed a ban on imports of certain kinds of screws priced lower than Rs 129 per kg, a move which would help promote domestic manufacturing. "The import policy of screws...is revised from free to prohibited. However, import shall be free if CIF (cost, insurance, freight) value is Rs 129 or above per kg," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Products included in the ban are coach crews, machine screws, wood screws, hook screws, and self-tapping screws. India imported screws, bolts, nuts, washers and similar articles worth USD 827 million in 2022-23 and USD 468.15 million during April-October this fiscal. These are imported from countries like France, China, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Belgium.

Indo-Australia trade deal boosts engineering exports despite import surge

One year after the India-Australia Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) came into effect, engineering exports to Australia reached USD 944 million in April-November 2023-24, a 3 per cent increase. However, imports from Australia also saw a significant 30 per cent upswing during the same period. India's engineering imports from Australia reached USD 355.02 million during April to October 2023-24. Despite the sharp surge in imports, EEPC India chairman Arun K Garodia remains optimistic, pointing to a positive engineering trade balance of USD 471 million between April and October 2023-24. This, he says, underscores the resilience and competitiveness of India's engineering sector. "While imports have increased more than exports in the short term of the new trade deal, we remain optimistic about the long-term benefits for the engineering sector. We expect a surge in exports to Australia, especially with their recent efforts to curb domestic industries and increased reliance on

Five out of top 10 destinations see a rise in April-November exports

This comes even as overall exports from India contracted during the period

Electronics, services exports to contain slide in growth rate of trade

Robust exports performance in electronic goods, particularly smartphones, and services sectors will help India contain the fall in growth rate of overall trade, which is expected to decline by 2.6 per cent in the current year, a report said. Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in its report said that despite global challenges, India's exports and imports of goods and services are likely to dip by 2.6 per cent to USD 1,609 billion in 2023 as against USD 1,651.9 billion in 2022. The decline in India's merchandise exports mirrors the global trend of a 5 per cent decline (as per UNCTAD's Global Trade Update) and aligns with China's 5.2 per cent drop in merchandise exports during January-November 2023, it added. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has forecast that the global merchandise trade volume would grow only by 0.8 per cent in 2023. In 2023, sectors which are expected to register growth include, aviation turbine fuels, motor gasoline, smartphones, basmati