Imports from Russia up 64% to $36.27 bn in Apr-Oct

With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first seven months of this fiscal.

The imports were $22.13 billion during April-October 2022.

From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's oil imports rose to over 40 per cent.

India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been buying Russian oil after some countries in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for invading Ukraine.

The ministry's data showed that imports from China dipped marginally to $60.02 billion during the period against $60.26 billion in the year-ago period.

Similarly, imports from the US declined 16 per cent to $24.89 billion during the period under review from $29.56 billion last year.

Imports from the UAE contracted 21 per cent to $24.91 billion during the period under review.

During the first seven months of this fiscal, imports also dipped from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia, Singapore, and Korea.

Among all the top 10 import source nations of India, imports from Switzerland increased to $13.97 billion as against $10.48 billion in April-October 2022 due to gold imports.

On the export front, India's exports to six of its top-10 destinations have recorded a negative growth rate during the period.

During the first seven months of this fiscal, the country's merchandise exports to the US, the UAE, Singapore, Germany, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia have declined.

However, exports to the UK, Australia and the Netherlands have recorded positive growth.

The outbound shipments to China rose to $8.92 billion during the period under review from $8.85 billion in April-October 2022.

India's overall merchandise exports rose by 6.21 per cent to $33.57 billion in October this year even as trade deficit ballooned to $31.46 billion during the month, government data showed on Wednesday.