India’s imports rises to 27%, touches to record high of almost $70 billion

India's merchandise exports fall in November as import bill hits record high, leading to a soaring trade deficit.

India’s merchandise exports fell 4.83% to $32.11 billion in November while the import bill jumped 27% to a record high of almost $70 billion, as per data released by the Commerce Ministry.

The trade deficit has also soared to a fresh all-time high of $37.84 billion, reflecting a 77.5% spike over the deficit recorded in November 2023.

This is the third time in four months that India’s import bill has hit a record high, but November’s tally surpasses the last two occasions by a wide margin.

In August, imports had hit a high of $64.34 billion, which was subsequently eclipsed by October’s tally of $66.34 billion.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal attributed the dip in merchandise exports to an unprecedented fall in petroleum products’ prices which have affected India’s oil exports. “Non-petroleum exports have grown at a comfortable pace and that is what we should be looking at,” he said.

Non-petroleum products exports were up 7.8% in November to touch $28.4 billion, while they have risen 7.4% between April and November this year to reach $239.7 billion.

November’s export performance comes after a surprise 17.25% spike in October, the fastest in 28 months, had lifted exports to the year’s second-best tally of $39.2 billion.