Coal is the new pain point as India grapples with a massive import bill

Quite low in the pecking order of inbound consignments at one point, the fossil fuel today accounts for a third of the value of crude entering the country

It begins with oil, spreads to gold and then sweeps in coal and electronics item. This is how the tension in the Indian imports plays out whenever there is a surge in the past, or now. 

There are other commodities for sure whose imports spike, but their volumes are always far lower than the top grossers, crude and petroleum products, gold, coal and electronic items. These items have accounted for half the share of India’s total imports. So any spike by one of them has usually brought grief to India’s trade deficit, spilled over to the larger current account deficit