Page 8 - India Imports

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

Rs 27,131 crore spent on copper imports in FY23: Govt tells Parliament

India spent Rs 27,131 crore on copper imports in 2022-23, up from Rs 21,985 crore a year earlier, Parliament was informed on Monday. On account of low availability of copper reserves in the country, India has always been an importer of copper ore and concentrate. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "Per annum net import value (and hence, net foreign exchange outgo) during the last two years... 2021-22 (is) Rs 21,985 crore, 2022-23 (is) Rs 27,131 crore." "India, with a refined copper production of 5.55 lakh tonne in FY2022-23, is the 10th largest in the world," the minister explained. The spurt in imports in the last two years is due to increased demand in copper refining, reflecting a post-pandemic recovery, especially the growth in user sectors such as infrastructure, construction, telecom, electrical, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Copper is one of the 30 critical minerals identified by the Centre. Copper concentrate

India's coal imports drop over 4 pc to 148 million in Apr-Oct period

India's coal imports dropped 4.2 per cent to 148.13 Million Tonnes (MT) in the April-October period of the ongoing financial year. The country's coal imports were 154.72 MT in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. During the April-October period, non-coking coal imports were 94.53 MT, lower than 104.41 MT imported during the same period last year, according to the data of mjunction services ltd, a B2B e-commerce company. Coking coal imports were at 33.74 MT during the first seven months of the ongoing financial year, slightly up against 32.74 MT in the year-ago period. Imports in October stood at roughly 23.59 MT as against 19.04 MT in October last fiscal, as per the data. Of the total imports in October, inbound shipments of non-coking coal stood at 16.88 MT, against 11.69 MT imported in October last year. Coking coal imports stood at 4.31 MT, against 4.69 MT imported in October last financial year. "There was an increase in volumes as the buyers took fresh positions

Coal India to phase out mining equipment imports in 6 years, says govt

State-owned CIL, which has imported high-capacity mining equipment worth Rs 3,500 crore in the past five years, has drawn up a plan to phase out such inbound shipments over the next six years, the government said on Thursday. The move aims to encourage and develop domestically manufactured equipment, it said. "Currently, Coal India Ltd (CIL) imports high-capacity equipment, such as electric rope shovels, hydraulic shovels, dumpers, crawler dozers, drills, motor graders, and front-end loaders wheel dozer, valued at Rs 3,500 crore, incurring additional expenses of Rs 1,000 crore in customs duty," the coal ministry said in a statement. These equipment were imported over the past five years. To curb these imports and boost domestic manufacturing, CIL has devised a strategy to phase out imports gradually over the next six years, it said. Notably, high-capacity machines are already being procured from domestic manufacturers. With a strong commitment to reduce the country's dependence o

Govt curtails palm oil imports over rising prices, negative margins

Buyers are concerned that the recent price rise may not be sustainable, so they are placing new import orders cautiously

Paper imports surge 43% in Apr-Sept fueled by jump in Asean shipments

Paper imports into India surged by 43 per cent in volume terms in the first half of 2023-24, fueled by a more than two-fold jump in imports from ASEAN countries, according to official data. The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) data showed that imports of paper and paperboard jumped to 959,000 tonnes in April-September 2023-24 from 672,000 tonnes in the first half of FY2022-23. Imports from ASEAN countries shot up from 81,000 tonnes in the first half of FY23 to 288,000 tonnes in the first half of FY24. Imports from China were almost flat at 186,400 tonnes in the period under review. In value terms, total paper imports rose to Rs 6,481 crore in April-September 2023-24 from Rs 5,897 crore in the year-ago period. Imports from ASEAN countries more than doubled to Rs 1,509 crore in the first half of FY24 from Rs 715 crore in the year ago period. Paper imports from China were worth Rs 1,629 crore in the first half of this fiscal against Rs 1,919 crore

Laptop, tablet imports surge 42% to $715 million amid licensing fears

The rise in such imports were led by the largest source China (33 per cent) and Singapore (188 per cent), according to data released by the commerce department