Lok Sabha Question No. 1085 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-08
Subject: Trade deficit with Neighbouring Countries
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Sushil Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1085 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08 th  FEBRUARY, 2023

## TRADE DEFICIT WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES

## 1085. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य  एवं  उद्योग  मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

(a) the steps being taken by the Government to discourage unnecessary imports from some of the countries with which India shares its borders;

- (b) the steps being taken to reduce the trade deficit with India's neighbouring countries;

(c) the  reasons  for  the  rising  trade  deficit  with  neighbouring  countries,  including  the details (HS code-wise) of goods which have seen a significant rise in imports from countries like China; and

(d) the steps being taken by the Government to encourage firms to procure raw materials from diversified sources?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jherh vuqfiz;k iVsy½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a) and (b): The Government has been constantly monitoring imports and the Department of Commerce has been sending out import data to all concerned line Ministries, stakeholders and Export Promotion Councils and hosted review meetings of imports with stakeholders at various levels.  Accordingly,  Government  has  taken  several  steps  including  creating/enhancing  of domestic capacity, incentivizing domestic manufacturing through Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, phased manufacturing plans, timely use of trade remedy options, adoption of mandatory technical standards, enforcement of FTA Rules of Origin (RoO) and development of import monitoring system. For a number of products compliances to Indian Standards is made compulsory by the Central Government under various considerations. For such products, the Central Government directs mandatory use of Standard Mark under a License or Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from BIS through issuance of QCOs. At the same time, several   schemes and policies have also been taken to boost exports so as to narrow down the trade deficit.

(c): As a natural consequence of a high growth economy, high domestic demand has been a major  spur  for  imports  in  India.  International  community  sees  India  as  a  "bright  spot"  for international trade in the global economy. As per IMF's World Economic Outlook estimates, India's  continue  to  be  the  highest  growing  major  economies  and  India's  GDP  growth  is estimated to be 6.8% in 2022 and is projected to grow at 6.1% in 2023.  Details of top 10 commodities at HS 2 level imported from China and Myanmar during April-November 2022 is as below:

Top 10 Commodities (HS 2) imported from China with positive growth during AprilNovember 2022

Values in USD Million

|   S.No . |   HS Code | Commodity                                                                                                                                               |   Apr- Nov 2022 (P) |
|----------|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|        1 |        85 | ELECTRICAL MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT AND PARTS THEREOF; SOUND RECORDERS AND REPRODUCERS, TELEVISION IMAGE AND SOUND RECORDERS AND REPRODUCERS, AND PARTS. |            18888.2  |
|        2 |        84 | NUCLEAR REACTORS, BOILERS, MACHINERY AND MECHANICAL APPLIANCES; PARTS THEREOF.                                                                          |            14411.6  |
|        3 |        29 | ORGANIC CHEMICALS                                                                                                                                       |             9380.79 |
|        4 |        39 | PLASTIC AND ARTICLES THEREOF.                                                                                                                           |             3891    |
|        5 |        72 | IRON AND STEEL                                                                                                                                          |             1347.54 |
|        6 |        73 | ARTICLES OF IRON OR STEEL                                                                                                                               |             1287.25 |
|        7 |        38 | MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL PRODUCTS.                                                                                                                        |             1272.8  |
|        8 |        87 | VEHICLES OTHER THAN RAILWAYORTRAMWAY ROLLING STOCK, AND PARTS AND ACCESSORIES THEREOF.                                                                  |             1184.54 |
|        9 |        76 | ALUMINIUM AND ARTICLES THEREOF.                                                                                                                         |              939.99 |
|       10 |        28 | INORGANIC CHEMICALS; ORGANIC OR INORGANIC COMPOUNDS OF PRECIOUS METALS, OF RARE- EARTH METALS, OR RADI. ELEM. OR OF ISOTOPES.                           |              862.65 |

Source: DGCI&S, p stands for provisional

Top 10 Commodities (HS 2) imported from Myanmar with positive growth during April-November 2022

|        |         | Values in USD Million                                                   | Values in USD Million   |
|--------|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| S.N o. | HS Code | Commodity Apr- Nov 2022 P)                                              | (                       |
| 1      | 8       | EDIBLE FRUIT AND NUTS; PEEL OR CITRUS FRUIT OR MELONS. 99.58            |                         |
| 2      | 44      | WOODANDARTICLES OF WOOD; WOODCHARCOAL.                                  | 36.14                   |
| 3      | 40      | RUBBER AND ARTICLES THEREOF.                                            | 15.42                   |
| 4      | 3       | FISH AND CRUSTACEANS, MOLLUSCS AND OTHER AQUATIC INVERTABRATES.         | 12.88                   |
| 5      | 79      | ZINC AND ARTICLES THEREOF.                                              | 12.69                   |
| 6      | 78      | LEAD AND ARTICLES THEREOF.                                              | 10.11                   |
| 7      | 61      | ARTICLES OF APPAREL AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES, KNITTED OR CORCHETED.     | 6.01                    |
| 8      | 9       | COFFEE, TEA, MATE AND SPICES.                                           | 4.96                    |
| 9      | 62      | ARTICLES OF APPAREL AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES, NOT KNITTED OR CROCHETED. | 4.36                    |
| 10     | 72      | IRON AND STEEL                                                          | 2.88                    |

Source: DGCI&S, p stands for provisional

(d): The Government has been closely monitoring international trade basket including raw materials import and efforts have also been made for flagging the imports of raw material to Export Promotion Councils, Industry Associations and line Ministries including suggestions for diversification to alternative sources of imports and sourcing domestically for items based on existing domestic production capacity.

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