Foodgrains import bill up 28-fold in April

The value of India's foodgrain imports increased by over 28 times to Rs 17.66 crore (Rs 176.6 million) in April, vis-a-vis the corresponding period a year ago, as per the latest data from the commerce ministry.

The ministry, which monitors the import of items considered sensitive for farmers and domestic industry, said inward shipments of alcoholic beverages and automobiles, too, showed a significant increase.

There was also spurt in imports of other sensitive items like rubber, dairy products, spices and auto-parts in the opening month of the current fiscal.

Overall imports of sensitive items went up by 21.2 per cent over the year-ago period.

Imports of these items, including from China and the United States, shot up to Rs 5,103 crore (Rs 51.03 billion) in the first month of this fiscal from Rs 4,211 crore (Rs 42.11 billion) in the same period last year.

India's foodgrains import bill increased to Rs 17.66 crore from Rs 66 lakh (Rs 6.6 million) in April, while that of alcoholic beverages rose by 213 per cent to Rs 40.13 crore (Rs 410.3 million) from Rs 12.81 crore (Rs 128.1 million) in the year-ago period.

The value of automobile imports, on the other hand, surged by 199 per cent to Rs 143.88 crore (Rs 1.438 billion).

Sensitive item imports constituted 3.4 per cent of the country's total inward shipments, which went up by about 43 per cent in April.

While the import of sensitive items from countries like Brazil, Korea, Germany, UK and Thailand has gone up, imports from Indonesia, Canada and Argentina have shown a decline.