Import Of Sensitive Items Rise By 11.1% In Apr-Dec 2007

New Delhi: Along the lines of the high import growth rate on the back of an appreciating rupee vis-a-vis the US dollar, the country''s import of sensitive items being monitored by the Department of Commerce in view of their impact on domestic prices, also registered an increase of 11.1 per cent during the first three quarters of the current fiscal, as compared with the corresponding quarters of the last fiscal.

The total import of over 350 such sensitive goods for the period April-December 2007 has been Rs 20,589 crore as compared with Rs 18,532 crore during the corresponding period of last fiscal. The gross import of all commodity during the same period of the current fiscal was Rs 6,82,088 crore as compared with Rs 6,11,522 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal. Import of sensitive items constitutes 3 per cent of the gross imports during the last fiscal as well as the current fiscal period under review.

Imports of consumption items such as foodgrains, cotton and silk, alcoholic beverages, tea and coffee and industrial products such as automobile, products of small scale industry and rubber have shown marked rise during the period under review. While import of foodgrains rose from Rs 1,228.26 crore to Rs 1,475.52 crore in the corresponding period of the current fiscal, alcoholic beverages import rose from Rs 146.83 crore to Rs 182 crore.