09/01/2012 (Net Indian) - India's total imports of sensitive items for the period April-October 2011 were valued at Rs 57339 crore, up 41.8 per cent from the level of Rs 40486 crore recorded in the same period of 2010, an official statement said here today.

It said the gross import of all commodities during April-October in this financial year was Rs.1251948 crores as compared to Rs.955937 crores during the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Thus, the import of sensitive items constitutes 4.2% and 4.6% of the gross imports during last year and current year, respectively, it said.

Imports of  milk & milk products and food grains have declined at broad group level during the period. Imports of all other items such as edible oil, automobiles, fruits & vegetables (including nuts), pulses, rubber, cotton & silk, products of small scale industries (SSI), spices, marble & granite, alcoholic beverages and tea & coffee have increased during the period.

In the edible oil segment, the import has increased from Rs.15882.0 crores last year to Rs.26621.5 crores for the corresponding period of this financial year. The imports of both crude oil as well as refined oil have gone up by 68.3% and 62.7%, respectively. The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions.

The statement said imports of sensitive items from Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Argentina, Germany, South Korea,  United States of America, Ukraine, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Cote D’ Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, United Kingdom and Guinea Bissau have gone up while those from Myanmar, Brazil and Australia. have gone down.