14,000 to 15,000 crores, up from Rs. 11,202 crores of 1998-99 and Rs. 7,076 crores in 1997-98. The shortage of edible oil and pulses in the country necessitates imports. In case of wheat and sugar, the country is theoretically in a state of surplus.
Raw cashew is imported mainly for export production.
Edible oil alone continues to account for 60-70 per cent of the total value of agricultural imports. In 1998-99, the value of edible oil imports shot up to Rs. 7,131 crores from Rs. 2,765 crores in the previous year. In the first seven months of the current fiscal, the value of imports was about Rs. In rupee terms, exports logged a growth rate of 16.48 per cent during the first three quarters of the current fiscal with imports registering a growth rate of 12.56 per cent.