NEW DELHI: India’s trade deficit with China widened to $83 billion in FY23 from $72 billion in FY22, according to the commerce ministry data. While total exports to the neighbouring country fell by nearly 28% to $15.32 billion in FY23, total imports surged by 4.16% to $98.51 billion in FY23.
However, China’s share in India’s merchandise imports declined to 13.79% in FY23 from 15.43% in FY22. Notably, imports of electronic goods from China witnessed a decline of around $2 billion in FY23 as against the same period of last year.
“Import share from China in electronic goods has also declined from 48.1% in 2021-22 (Apr-Feb) to 41.9% in 2022-23 (Apr-Feb). A significant fall in share from China seen in imports of fertilizers from 21.9% in 2021-22 (Apr-Feb) to 13.9% in 2022-23 (Apr-Feb) and this accounts for around half a billion fall in imports from China,” the government said in a statement.
According to government sources, the country cannot make everything on its own at his juncture.
“There will be certain imports which will be getting into your exports. You cannot get everything on your own. If you are making a car or any electronic item, for eg, you won’t be making every component on your own,” a government official said.
He further added that the country is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, so domestic consumption also expands which leads to more dependence on imports of certain goods. “So, keeping this in mind, trade deficit itself as a parameter should not question the competitiveness of our export items,” the official cited above said who didn’t want to be quoted.
Meanwhile, imports from Russia grew 369% as the country increased its supply of cheaper crude oil to India after it faced sanctions from the West due to war with Ukraine.