Imports

The country may look at importing dairy products if needed as there is a supply constraint for such items due to milk production remaining stagnant in the last fiscal, a top government official said on Wednesday. The government will intervene to import dairy products like butter and ghee, if required, after assessing the stock position of milk in Southern states, where the flushing (peak production) season has started now, he added. Milk output in the country stood at 221 million tonne in 2021-22, up 6.25 per cent from 208 million tonne in the previous year, as per the official data. Addressing a press conference, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said the country's milk production remained stagnant in the 2022-23 fiscal due to lumpy skin disease in cattle, while the domestic demand grew by 8-10 per cent in the same period because of a rebound in the post-pandemic demand. "There is no constraint in milk supply as such in the country...There is an adequate ...

The government has hiked customs duty on import of X-ray machines and non-portable X-ray generators to 15 per cent with effect from April 1. Currently, portable X-ray machines and non-portable X-ray generators and apparatus attract 10 per cent import duty. The changes in the customs duty rate was brought in as part of the amendments to the Finance Bill, 2023, which was passed by the Lok Sabha last Friday. The new rates would be effective from April 1, 2023, the amendment said. AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said this is intended to improve barriers to manufacturing in India. "This will encourage 'Make in India' to reduce import dependence in the niche sector," he said.

As the requirement for capital import into India at present is low, the global tornado has modest implications for us

The government is undertaking an exercise to cut imports of non-essential goods with a view to enhancing domestic production of those items, an official said on Wednesday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the commerce ministry has provided product-wise import figures to all the ministries. "We are asking the different ministries that they should analyse that data and they should look at data from the angle that which imports are essential and which are non-essential," he told reporters here. The ministries would look at issues like if those goods are being manufactured in India and if there is sufficient capacity for those products. "If there is a sufficient capacity within the country and still it is being imported, then we are trying to educate that it can be substituted by the domestic manufactured product," he said. "What we are saying is that if our domestic maker is capable of producing the same kind of quality with the same price then obviously that should be ...

There will be 315 product standards under these orders

The government will come up with as many as 58 quality control orders (QCOs) for products such as aluminium, copper items and household electrical appliances in the next six months, in a move aimed at containing import of the sub-standard goods and boost domestic industry, a senior government official said. The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) is working hard to promote manufacturing of high quality products in the country. "Since 1987, only 34 QCOs have been issued. But now we are coming up with 58 QCOs in the next six months. The main objective is to stop import of sub-standard goods. These mandatory norms will be for domestic and foreign players," Joint Secretary in the DPIIT Sanjiv told PTI. There will be 315 product standards under these orders. The items, under these orders, cannot be produced, sold/traded, imported and stocked unless they bear the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) mark. "These QCOs will be notified within a year after following

Import from India's key crude oil suppliers -- Saudi Arabia and Iraq -- contracted 14.3 per cent and 11.2 per cent, respectively

In December, crude oil imports from the US shot up 93 per cent to 3.9 million MT

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is looking to bring building materials like asbestos and gypsum under quality control norms, a move aimed at containing import of sub-standard goods and boosting the domestic industry. In this regard, the department has sought industry comments on draft quality control orders (QCOs) for concrete, asbestos, gypsum and ceramic-based materials industry. It has floated draft QCOs for 53 products. "In this regard, all the industry, apex industry/ associations, sectoral industry/association, regional industry/association, respective administrative ministries, concerned R&D institutions/organisations are requested to furnish their comments on the draft QCOs," DPIIT said. Comments can be sent till February 20. The 53 products include cement concrete flooring tiles, concrete paving blocks, gypsum plaster boards , and pulverised fuel ash - lime bricks.

With these imports, India can maintain a domestic inventory of refined products like petrol and diesel

Outbound shipments grew 13.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in 2022, while imports rose by 21 per cent, commerce and industry ministry's data showed

Govt taking steps to address possible cases of under-invoicing

Currently, Covid vaccines administered in India include Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V, Corbevax and Covovax

The CBIC on Saturday said the customs department is closely monitoring import of toys and continuously tackling newer modus operandi adopted to circumvent the quality control and safety norms. The government earlier this week said 18,600 toys have been seized in the last one month from major retail stores, including those of Hamleys and Archies, at airports and malls across India for lack of BIS quality mark and use of fake licences. In a tweet, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said the customs department is engaged with both BIS and the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) to thwart attempts of circumventing the quality control and safety checks. It said newer modus operandi adopted to circumvent the BIS restrictions by way of imports of parts of toys, staggered import of such parts through different ports, and misdeclaration of toys and their parts as entirely different items is being "continuously tackled". "Indian Customs has been closely monitoring

But the China factor could play spoiler

The agency has asked the company on why it should not impose penalty against the management

The government's fiscal deficit at the end of November touched 59 per cent of the full year budget estimate, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit -- the difference between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 9,78,154 crore during the April-November period of 2022-23. In the corresponding period last year, the deficit was 46.2 per cent of the budget estimates of 2021-22. For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16.61 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of the GDP.

During the period, the country's imports were higher by 26.19 per cent to $12,325.87 million

The industry size of airbags, a key safety feature in vehicles, is expected to grow to up to Rs 7,000 crore by FY2027 in India, from the current levels of around Rs 2,500 crore, according to ratings agency Icra. The growth in the airbag industry, which is one of the fastest growing auto component segments, is expected to be fuelled by the increase in content per vehicle arising from higher regulatory requirements and voluntary increase in the number of airbags per vehicle for enhancing safety, Icra said in a statement. "The mandatory content per vehicle for airbag manufacturers is expected to rise from Rs 3,000-4,000 currently to Rs 8,000-10,000 by October 1, 2023. The average number of airbags per car sold is about three currently, and this is expected to increase significantly post the mandatory implementation of six airbags per car from October 1, 2023," Icra Vice President and Sector Head Vinutaa S said. Accordingly, Icra said it expects the industry to grow to Rs 6,000-7,000 ..

The importance of China as India's top trading partner cannot be understated