Page 4 - Imports

Foreign exchange reserves rise by $9 bn in week to 20-month high at $616 bn

Gold reserves rose by $446 million in the previous week, whereas Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased by $135 million

India's trade deficit fell to $20.58 billion in Nov as imports shrank 4.3%

Trade deficit: The exports, however, fell less sharply by 2.8% in November to $33.90 billion from $34.89 billion a year ago

Imports of luxury chocolate brands zoom 45% on steady uptick in demand

According to industry insiders, imports of such luxurious products in India will be driven by the demand for organic, dark, vegan gluten-free and sugar-free chocolates

Proposed 5% biogas blending with LNG can cut imports worth $1.17 bn: IBA

The proposed 5 per cent blending of biogas with natural gas supplies in the country can cut LNG imports worth USD 1.17 billion annually, says a study by the Indian Biogas Association (IBA). The study comes against the backdrop of the government's recent mandate to blend one per cent biogas with piped natural gas (PNG) supplies in the country from April 1, 2025 under the compressed biogas blending obligation (CBO) scheme. The biogas blending is proposed to be further increased to 5 per cent by fiscal year 202829. According to the study, this blending initiative gels well with the government's macro-level move to make India a gas-based economy, with a target to increase the current share of gas in the energy mix from 6 per cent currently to 15 per cent by 2030. The IBA estimates show that 5 per cent blending of biogas with natural gas can reduce LNG imports worth USD 1.17 billion. This can also bring down per capita CO2 emissions by two per cent, benchmarked to the 2019 figure, which

Russian oil turns dearer for Indian refiners after US enforces price cap

Moves by Washington to enforce the price cap strictly by opening investigations into five tankers transporting Russian oil has created concerns among refiners and traders

Walmart turns to India from China for cheaper imports as it cut costs

Only 60% of its shipments came from China during the same period, down from 80% in 2018, the same data shows. To be sure, China is still Walmart's biggest country for importing goods

India, Australia at risk of becoming dumping grounds for polluting cars

The financial burden of imports on developing nations will also get worse without clear goals to end sales of gasoline vehicles, Scott said

India proposes slashing EV import taxes to clinch UK free trade deal

The UK's demand for import concessions on electric vehicles is one of the few outstanding issues in the free trade talks

Curbs, PLI, quality norms help cut import of some non-essential goods

Steps such as curbs on inbound shipments of certain goods, production linked incentive scheme and mandatory quality norms are helping the country reduce imports of non-essential products such as TV, tyres, wallpaper and AC gas compressors. These steps, among others like imposing antidumping and countervailing duties, have been taken to analyse and control non-essential imports and to augment domestic production capacity in import intensive sectors, an official said. According to an analysis of the commerce and industry ministry, import restrictions imposed on tyres helped cut the inbound shipments by 74 per cent to USD 74 million in 2022-23 from USD 276 million in 2019-20. Calendar year wise, these imports declined to USD 36 million till July this year as against USD 353 million in 2018. The government in June 2020 imposed import curbs on certain new pneumatic tyres used in motor cars, buses, lorries and motorcycles to promote domestic manufacturing and contain imports from ...

Govt to issue end-to-end digital authorisation for laptop, tablets' import

The decision spells relief for global laptop makers such as Dell, HP, Apple, Samsung and Lenovo, which had been unnerved by the abrupt announcement of a licensing regime in August

Amid declining Indian imports, shipments from Russia, Hong Kong see growth

In the realm of exports, India saw diverging trends among its top 10 markets

Weekly India-UK FTA meets taking place, ironing out differences: Govt

The government is working on an import management system - laptops, tablets, and other IT hardware - and it will come into effect on November 1

Govt requests mills to stop raw jute imports on domestic oversupply

The Centre has advised mills to stop importing raw jute because of its oversupply in the domestic market and instructed jute importers to provide daily transaction reports in a prescribed format until December. The jute commissioner's office, representing the Union textile ministry, in a notice on Tuesday also recommended mills not to import jute of TD 4 to TD 8 variants (as per the old classification used in the trade) since these are adequately available within the country. "The variants make up 75 per cent of the total jute production and trade," said Sanjay Kajaria, former chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association. The current season's production stands at 91 lakh bales, with an opening stock of 23 lakh bales and 5 lakh bales of imported raw jute, resulting in a total estimated availability of 119 lakh bales. According 2021-22 data, jute imports amounted to 62,500 tonnes valued at Rs 449 crore, while exports reached 32,000 tonnes, valued at Rs 222 crore. The jute commissio

DGTR recommends anti-dumping duty on Chinese wheel loaders for 5 years

The commerce ministry's arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended an anti-dumping duty of up to 82 per cent on imports of wheel loaders from China for five years to protect domestic players. The product is a commonly used machinery in infrastructure and mining sectors. The recommendation came after a year-long investigation into the complaints of injury by domestic manufacturers of this product. According to a DGTR notification: "The Authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties... so as to remove the injury to the domestic industry". It has concluded in its probe that the imports are coming at prices below the domestic sales price, injuring the domestic industry. The anti-dumping duty, when notified by the Department of Revenue, will be imposed on 'wheel loaders' of less than 7,000 kg capacity and even on imports of semi-knocked-down kits. Completely knocked-down kits have been excluded from the duties as this could end up with anti-dum

Govt bans manufacturing, imports of electric detonator from April 2025

The government has decided to ban manufacturing, possession and imports of electric detonator from April 2025 in view of security concerns and public safety. In a notification, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has said that the central government is of the opinion that electric detonator is of a "dangerous" character. It is expedient for the security concerns and public safety to prohibit the manufacturing, possession and import of electric detonator, it said. It added that the government, after consultation with stakeholders of explosives industry, in the public interest has decided that its production shall be completely phased out by the end of 2024-2025. "The central government hereby prohibits the manufacture, possession and import of the electric detonator...throughout the country with effect from the 1st day of April, 2025," the notification, dated September 29, has said.

Commerce Ministry opens applications for registration to import IT hardware

The registration plan comes after the Centre decided to delay the requirement of licenses for such imports

India loosening its planned restrictions on laptop, tablet imports

As part of the latest plan, all companies bringing everything from tablets and laptops to desktop computers and servers into India will have to register

India counting on potash supplies despite diplomatic row with Canada

Ties between India and Canada deteriorated sharply after New Delhi and Ottawa expelled one of the other's diplomats in a dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader

'Domestic manufacturing of premium lighting products may double in 3 yrs'

The Indian premium decorative lighting industry is focusing on domestic value addition to replace imports, and expects the localisation level to double from the current stage in the next three years as the demand is on the rise, a senior company official said. Localisation refers to locally producing or manufacturing components. It is beneficial for a sector as it cuts down the cost of the component or the whole product. The localisation and domestic manufacturing of premium lighting products is now around 20 per cent, which is expected to double in the next three years, said Usha International. president and business head (lighting) Vikas Gandhi. He explained that the volume did not support complete localisation, but the revival in the market with a boom in the housing and hospitality sectors has encouraged the company to promote local value addition. Currently, most of the imports are from China, according to the executive, whose company sells its products under the Tisva brand

Imports from Russia doubles to $25.69 billion in Apr-Aug on oil, fertiliser

The country's imports from Russia almost doubled to USD 25.69 billion during the April-August period this fiscal due to increasing inbound shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first five months of this fiscal. The imports were USD 13.77 billion during April-August 2022. From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's oil imports rose to over 40 per cent. India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been buying Russian oil that was available at a discount after some in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. The ministry's data showed that imports from China dipped to USD 42 billion during the period against USD 43.96 billion in the same period last year. Similarly, imports from the US ..