About:
- This was the first time that trade crossed the $100 billion mark. India’s imports from China accounted for $97.5 billion, while exports reached $28.1 billion, both records.
- Compared to 2019 —trade declined substantially in 2020 because of the pandemic, which exaggerates the year-on-year increase —imports are up 30%.
- Exports to China, meanwhile, are up by as much as 56%.
- The trade deficit, a long-term source of concern for India, is up by 22% since 2019, having declined last year.
What is driving India’s imports?
- India’s biggest imports are electrical and mechanical machinery, a range of chemicals that are intermediate imports used by industries, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), auto components, and since 2020, a large amount of medical supplies.
- According to figures available with India’s Ministry of Commerce, all those key imports continued to rise in 2021.
