Import of sensitive items up 34.5 per cent in April-July 09

Import of sensitive items into the country stood 34.5 per cent higher at Rs18,061 crore in the first four months of the current fiscal (April-July 09-10) against Rs13,424 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Gross import of all commodities during April-July period of the current fiscal stood at Rs382,422 crore, down 21.74 per cent compared to imports worth Rs488,668 crore during the same period last year.

The share of sensitive items in the total imports into the country rose to 4.7 per cent in April-July this year from 2.7 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Import of automobiles, products of SSI and alcoholic beverages has shown a decline at broad group level during the period. Imports of all other items, viz, edible oil, pulses, fruits and vegetables (including nuts), cotton and silk, rubber, spices, marble and granite, milk and milk products, tea and coffee and food grains have increased during the period under review.

Import of edible oil has increased from Rs3,682.91 crore in April-July last fiscal to Rs7,150.81 crore in the corresponding period of this financial year. Imports of crude edible oil and refined oil have gone up by 94.6 per cent and 91.6 per cent, respectively. The increase in edible oil import is attributed to a substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions.

Imports of sensitive items from Indonesia, Myanmar, the US, Malaysia, Canada, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, Benin, Cote D' Ivoire, Australia, Thailand etc have gone up while those from mainland China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Czech Republic etc have shown a decline.