Industrial production recorded a growth of 5.3 per cent between April and December last as compared to 2.5 per cent during the same period in the previous year.
The growth rate in December 2002 was five per cent as against three per cent in the same month a year earlier, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Vidya Sagar Rao told the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The figures are measured in terms of index of industrial production based on 1993-94 as the base year.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Rajiv Pratap Rudy said in a written reply during the question hour that imports from Nepal between April and November last were worth Rs 862.78 crore (Rs 8.62 billion) having fallen from the previous year's figure of Rs 1171.74 crore (Rs 11.71 billion) in the same period. In comparison, the exports to that country were Rs 888.79 crore (Rs 8.88 billion) as compared to Rs 677.91 crore (Rs 6.77 billion) in the previous year.
He said as far as Bangladesh was concerned, the figures between April and November last year for imports were Rs 157.87 crore (Rs 1.57 billion) in comparison to Rs 193.61 crore in the previous year. Exports stood at Rs 2914.99 crore (Rs 29.14 billion) as compared to Rs 3239.72 crore (Rs 32.39 billion) the previous year.
He said the total imports from China between April and September last year was Rs 5943.63 crore (Rs 59.43 billion) as compared to Rs 4419.28 crore (Rs 44.19 billion) during the corresponding period in the previous year.
Meanwhile, Rao said a total of 198 industrial licences were issued between January 2000 and December 2002. These included only three licences to the public sector units.
Rudy said anti-dumping investigations had been initiated in 69 cases of which final findings had been issued in 53 cases, while six were being investigated for preliminary findings. In seven cases, the preliminary findings had been brought out and proceedings were in progress while in another three the cases had been initiated but closed.
UNI
