The trade deficit difference between imports and exports, between India and China touched $51.5 billion during April-October this fiscal, the Parliament was informed on Friday, December 9, 2022.
The deficit during 2021-22 had jumped to $73.31 billion as compared to $44.03 billion in 2020-21, according to the data provided by the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
According to the data, imports during April-October this fiscal stood at $60.27 billion, while exports aggregated at $8.77 billion.
He said that the merchandise exports from India to China had increased from $11.93 billion in 2014-15 to $21.26 billion in 2021-22, showing an increase of 78.2%, over the last six years.
Imports from China, on the other hand, increased from $60.41 billion in 2014-15 to $94.57 billion in 2021-22.
"The trade deficit with China in 2004-05 was $1.48 billion, which increased to $36.21 billion in 2013-14, an increase of 2,346%. Against this massive increase, the trade deficit with China has since increased by only 100% to $73.31 billion in 2021-22," Mr. Goyal said.
He informed that most of the goods imported from China were— capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials— and were used for meeting the demand of fast-expanding sectors like electronics, telecom and power in India.
"The rise in import of electronic components, computer hardware and peripherals, telephone components, etc. can be attributed to transforming of India into a digitally-empowered society and a knowledge economy. India's dependence on imports in these categories is largely due to the gap between domestic supply and demand," he added.
Replying to a question about imports from China, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said that many imports were inputs for further manufacturing in India and exports from India.
The major goods imported from China included electronic goods, organic and inorganic chemicals, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, fertilisers, crude and manufactured and dyeing/ tanning/ colouring materials.
