Import of sensitive items up over 30 per cent in April-August 2009-10

Import of sensitive items into the country rose 30.4 per cent to Rs22,429 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal (April-August 2009-10) against such imports worth Rs17,206 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Gross import of all commodities during the period under review stood at Rs497,108 crore against imports of Rs648,041 crore during the same period last year, an official release said.

On a percentage basis, sensitive items constituted 4.5 per cent of the country's gross imports in the first five months of the current fiscal against 2.7 per cent during the same period last year.

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

In the edible oil segment, imports have almost doubled to Rs8,994.36 crore in the first months of the current fiscal from Rs4,791.49 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Imports of both crude edible oil as well as refined oil have gone up by 89 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively. The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions, a government release said.

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