January 04, 2002

'16'

IMPORT DATA FOR 300 SENSITIVE ITEMS -- APRIL-NOVEMBER 2001 - PRESS NOTE

    The total import of 300 sensitive tariff lines for the period April to November 2001 has been Rs.7279 crore against Rs.7186 crore for the corresponding period of last year thereby showing a positive growth of only 1.30%. This figure may undergo some revision after validation of commodity codes because of the possibility of some items having been inadvertently misclassified by the importers. Provisional estimates of commodity group-wise imports from April-November 2001 as compared to April-November 2000 are enclosed.

2. At the broad group level of commodities, imports indicate increase in respect of Rubber, Marble & Granite, Automobile, Spices, Cotton & silk, Alcoholic beverages and Edible oil. Import of food grains, fruits & vegetables have shown a sharp decline at broad group level during the period.

3. In the edible oil segment, the imports have increased from Rs.4290.57 crore last year to Rs.4409.38 crore for the corresponding period this year. A significant feature of edible oil import is that while import of soyabean and palm crude oil has gone up, that of refined soyabean & palm oil has gone down leading to better utilisation of the processing capacity in the country. However, import of Sunflower oil, both crude & refined, has gone down.

4. On the basis of the country of origin, the data reveals decrease in imports from Netherlands, Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Russia, China etc.

5. Imports from Iran, Brazil, Cameroon, Japan, Australia, Uzbekistan, Srilanka, USA, Czech Republic, etc have been shown some increase.

6. The overall picture that emerges from these quick estimates is that the imports have responded to the customs duty changes and other import management measures put in effect in the recent months.

IMPORT OF SENSITIVE ITEMS- PROVISIONAL ESTIMATE

Value (Rs. Crore)
Sl.No. COMMODITY GROUP No. of Tariff lines

IMPORT

Up to Nov-00

Up to Nov-01

1 Milk & Milk Products

22

37.65

9.75
2 Fruits & Vegetables

48

1112.76

534.66
3 Poultry

13

0.01

0.26
4 Tea & Coffee

32

22.45

17.59
5 Spices

35

115.49

174.20
6 Food Grains

12

24.62

2.97
7 Edible Oil

27

4290.57

4409.38
8 Alcoholic beverages

8

18.76

20.52
9 Rubber

11

25.69

75.88
10 Cotton & Silk

6

1379.64

1860.65
11 Marble & Granite

14

5.29

11.61
12 Automobiles

32

47.88

76.70
13 Products of concern to SSI (Umbrella, locks, toys, writing instruments, tiles, glassware etc.)

20

78.07

70.54
14 Others (wheat floor, sugar, cigarettes & salt)

20

26.67

14.52
Total

300

7185.55

7279.24