Import of sensitive items in India up 4.6 per cent in April-October

Total imports of sensitive items in the country increased 41.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs57,399 crore during the first seven months of the current financial year (April-October 2011-12) against Rs40,486 crore during the comparable period of the previous year.

With gross imports of all commodities during the period at Rs12,51,948 crore, up from Rs9,55,937 crore during the comparable period of the previous fiscal, the share of sensitive items in the country's total imports rose to 4.6 per cent during the current fiscal period from 4.2 per cent during the same period last fiscal.

Imports of milk and milk products and foodgrains have declined at broad group level during the period.

Imports of all other items, such as edible oils, automobiles, fruits and vegetables (including nuts), pulses, rubber, cotton and silk, products of SSIs, spices, marble and granite, alcoholic beverages and tea and coffee have increased during the period under review.

Import of edible oils increased from Rs15,882 crore last year to Rs26,621.5 crore during the corresponding period of the current financial year. Imports of both crude as well as refined oils have gone up by 68.3 per cent and 62.7 per cent, respectively.

The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions, an official release said.

Countries like Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Argentina, Germany, Korea, United States, Ukraine, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Cote D' Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, UK, Guinea Bissau accounted for bulk of the imports of sensitive items while import of such items from Myanmar, Brazil, Australia etc have gone down.