India's imports jump 43.3% in April -Governance Now

India's imports jump 43.3% in April

Gems and jewellery exports increased 36 per cent

PTI | May 19, 2010

India's imports surged by a never-seen-before USD eight billion in April, indicating the rapid pace of domestic economic activity, even as the government downplayed the 36.2 per cent jump in exports.

The "real interesting story here is the huge surge in imports because I have never seen numbers this large... USD 8 billion jump in a month," commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said today.

Imports were up by a huge 43.3 per cent to USD 27.3 billion in the first month of the current fiscal, indicating that the domestic industry was consuming more and its output could grow.

Factory production has also been rising steadily, with a 13.5 per cent growth in March and 10.4 per cent for 2009-10.

Exports were up 36.2 per cent to USD 16.9 billion in April, but the government said this was more due to low base effect than a healthy demand revival. Year-ago exports numbers was USD 12.4 billion.

"Don't get carried away by these numbers... because base was low and that's why you have an increase in percentage terms. You are still running below the export level in April 2008-09 (USD 18.5 billion)," commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said.

Exports had shot up by 54.1 per cent in March, also on account of low base effect -- wherein low growth in the past makes even a nominal increase now look huge.

On exports, Khullar said some of the laggard sectors like engineering goods and textiles have joined those performing well like gems and jewellery and petroleum products. Exports of engineering goods and textiles went up by 16 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.

While the comprehensive trade data for April will be released on June one, petroleum products exports, according to Khullar showed an impressive annualised 80 per cent jump in April.

Gems and jewellery exports increased 36 per cent.

In the import basket, crude oil bill increased by 70 per cent, gems and jewellery by 118 per cent, chemcials 47 per cent and iron and steel 141 per cent.

India's exports contracted for 13 straight months starting October 2008, before turning positive in November'09.

Comments

Other News

‘Oral cancer deaths in India cause productivity loss of 0.18% GDP’

A first-of-its-kind study on the economic loss due to premature death from oral cancer in India by the Tata Memorial Centre has found that this form of cancer has a premature mortality rate of 75.6% (34 premature events / 45 total events) resulting in productivity loss of approximately $5.6 billion in 2022

Days of Reading: Upendra Baxi recalls works that shaped his youth

Of Law and Life Upendra Baxi in Conversation with Arvind Narrain, Lawrence Liang, Sitharamam Kakarala, and Sruti Chaganti Orient BlackSwan, Rs 2,310

Voting by tribal communities blossoms as ECI’s efforts bear fruit

The efforts made by the Election Commission of India (ECI), over last two years, for inclusion of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) communities and other tribal groups in the electoral process have borne fruit with scenes of tribal groups in various states/UTs participating enthusiastically in t

GST revenue for April 2024 at a new high

The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections hit a record high in April 2024 at ₹2.10 lakh crore. This represents a significant 12.4% year-on-year growth, driven by a strong increase in domestic transactions (up 13.4%) and imports (up 8.3%). After accounting for refunds, the net GST

First Magahi novel presents a glimpse of Bihar bureaucracy a century ago

Fool Bahadur By Jayanath Pati (Translated by Abhay K.) Penguin Modern Classics, 112 pages, Rs 250 “Bab

Are EVs empowering India`s Green Transition?

Against the backdrop of the $3.5 billion Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme launched by the Government of India, sales of Electric Vehicles (EVs) are expected to grow at a CAGR of 35% by 2032. It is crucial to take into account the fact that 86% of EV sales in India were under the price bracket of $2